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MUHAMMAD

his life based on the eaitiest sooRCs

Alartin UngA

MUHAMMAD

his life based on the earliest sources

Contents

T
1

1 nc n.uu5>c (Ji vjuu

page I

IT
11

r\ ijrreaL loss

TIT
ill

v^uiaysii ui inc n.oiiow

/:
\j

nTnp R Pf nvprv of a I rkcc

X 11^ W/ V ^1. y V/l A

V 1

TVio for o X^rrsnn^t
1 nc i>ccu itji d 1 rupiicL

VII

V 1 1

J. lie 1 CAl V/l LllC iJl^LfHalU,

VIIT

V 111

1 nc L^csci I

2,7

Jl\ 1 CtCt Ul v^lilVdillj

2 T

XIT

XIII

Trip l~Inil«;Pnolfi

5 /

XTV

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yV V

nrKp Pi ret R^vplafirttic

1 nc J. 11 9 1 l\CVCld.LlV/ll3

XVT

w (Jiainp

XVII

"Warn Thv Familv"

wax 11 X 11 y X aiiiiiy

XVTII
y\ V 111

XIX
yv lyv

c6
J°

y\y\

Abu Jahl and Hamzah

YYT

A. A.1

fill t*'^Trcn n.^ 'I lBr'rov*c Tlot^<m/^c

i^^uraysn jviaKC v/irers ana L/cinanus

Y YTT
A.A11

Lcaacis or v^uraysn

t>4

XXTII

W (JllUCllIlClll. d.ilU xiopc

^57

YYTV
A. A.1 V

rarniiy i^ivisions

VYV

AA V

1 nc xioui

YYVI

A A V 1

1 nice V^UCSUOIla

XXVII

A nvQcinia
jL\.uy Soiiiid

'Umar

yj iiiai

0 X

XXVIII

XXIX

TVip Riin iinri Jfc Annnltnpnt
X nc ud.li diiu. 113 /LiiiiuiiiicnL

YYY

AAA

1 araaisc ana tLcmiiy

XXXI

yV/v Wl

1 T^*»'sr /^r ^d/^n/^cc
1 lie 1 Cdl Oi <3dU.nC9o

XXXIT

1 lie L^L^Lii ui 1 ny VwiL^uiiicndncc

Y Y YTTT
A A Alll

rviLcr ine i cdi ur oauncss

105

YYYTV
AAAl V

Yathrib Responsive

lOo

YYYV
AAA V

Many Emigrations

113

Y Y YVT
AAA V 1

A vjOnspiracy

I 10

XXXVII

The Hijrah

XXXVIII

The Entry into Medina

123

XXXIX

Harmony and Discord

125

The New Household

132.

XLI

The Threshold of War

XLII

The March to Badr

138

XLIII

The Battle of Badr

XLIV

The Return of the Vanquished

viii Contents

W V

1 lie \^cipilVCd

page 155

YT VT
AL V 1

Dam v^aynuqa

loO

VI VII
A.i^ V 11

Ucains ana jviarriagcs

163

ALVlll

1 he reople or the i5ench

167

XLIX

Desultory Warfare

170

Preparations for Battle

172

T I

1 lie ivictrcil lu vjnuci

177

T II

1 ne Dattie oi unuu

loO

T TIT
LIU

Revenge

109

I TV
LI V

1 nc Duriai oi ine iviarLyrs

191

L V

Alter unua

I \/T

L VI

Victims of Revenge

199

I \/n

L V 11

Bani Nadir

203

L V ill

L eace ana war

200

I TV

1 nc I ICIICII

215.

I V

1 ne oiege

220

I VI
LAI

Bani Qurayzah

229

I VII

After the Siege

2.34

I VIII

The Hypocrites

2-37

I VIV
LAI V

1 ne iMecKiace

240

T VV
LA V

1 ne Lie

243

LA V 1

1 ne L^iiemma or i^uraysn

247

I yviT

L.y\. V 11

r\ v^icar viCLury

252

I V\/TIT
LA Vlll

After Hudaybiyah

257

I VIV
LAI A

i\.nay Dar

263

I VV
LAA

wnom Lovest inoujviostr

270

T VVI
LAAl

After Khaybar

274

T VVTI
LAAU

The Lesser Pilgrimage and its Aftermath

_ 0 _

200

I Win

LA All 1

L-/cd.in^ diici Liic L ruiniac ui a Dirin

2oo

I VVIV
LAAl V

r\ Dreacn oi tne /vrmisnce

291

T VV\/
LAA V

The Conquest of Mecca

297

I VVVI
LAA V 1

1 ne Daitie or riunayn ana me oiege oi i a ii

304

T VVVTI
LAA V 11

Reconciliations

300

I vvvni

LAA V 111

Alter ine v iciory

313

LyVyVIyV

1 auuK.

T VVV
LAA A

Alter 1 aouK

320

I YYYI
LA A Al

1 ne Jvcgrees

326

T VVVTI

LA AAll

The Future

329

I XXXIII

Thp Farpwpll Pilffrimaffe

LXXXIV

The Choice

337

LXXXV

The Succession and the Burial

34^

M^at) of Arabia (bv Steven W. Johnson)

:74"

\jiiTaysn oj we snoiiow [geneuiogicui ireej

347

i\u*c; UTi r TUTiHnciupKJn %jf ixruuii' ixurncb

Key to References

349

Index

350

The House of God

THE Book of Genesis tells us that Abraham was childless, without
hope of children, and that one night God summoned him out of his
tent and said to him: "Look now towards heaven, and count the
stars if thou art able to number them." And as Abraham gazed up at the
stars he heard the voice say: "So shall thy seed be."'

Abraham's wife Sarah was then seventy-six years old, he being eighty-
five; and she gave him her handmaid Hagar, an Egyptian, that he might
take her as his second wife. But bitterness of feeling arose between the
mistress and the handmaid, and Hagar fled from the anger of Sarah and
cried out to God in her distress. And He sent to her an Angel with the
message: "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be
numbered for multitude." The Angel also said to her: *'Behold, thou art
with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because
the Lord hath heard thy affliction."^ Then Hagar returned to Abraham and
Sarah and told them what the Angel had said; and when the birth took
place, Abraham named his son Ishmael, which means "God shall hear".

When the boy reached the age of thirteen, Abraham was in his hun-
dredth year, and Sarah was ninety years old; and God spoke again to
Abraham and promised him that Sarah also should bear him a son who
must be called Isaac. Fearing that his elder son might thereby lose favour in
the sight of God, Abraham prayed: "O that Ishmael might live before
Thee! " And God said to him: "As for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I
have blessed him . . . and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant
will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time
in the next year. ^

Sarah gave birth to Isaac and it was she herself who suckled him; and
when he was weaned she told Abraham that Hagar and her son must no
longer remain in their household. And Abraham was deeply grieved at this,
on account of his love for Ishmael; but again God spoke to him, and told
him to follow the counsel of Sarah, and not to grieve; and again He
promised him that Ishmael should be blessed.

Not one but two great nations were to look back to Abraham as their
father - two great nations, that is, two guided powers, two instruments to
work the Will of Heaven, for God does not promise as a blessing that
which is profane, nor is there any greatness before God except greatness in
the Spirit. Abraham was thus the fountain-head of two spiritual streams,

' 15:5. ^ 16:10-11. ^ 17:10-1.

2 Muhammad

which must not flow together, but each in its own course; and he entrusted
Hagar and Ishmael to the blessing of God and the care of His Angels in the
certainty that all would be well with them.

Two spiritual streams, two religions, tw^o worlds for God; two circles,
therefore two centres. A place is never holy through the choice of man, but
because it has been chosen in Heaven, There were two holy centres within
the orbit of Abraham: one of these was at hand, the other perhaps he did
not yet know; and it was to the other that Hagar and Ishmael were guided,
in a barren valley of Arabia, some forty camel days south of Canaan. The
valley was named Becca, some say on account of its narrowness: hills
surround it on all sides except for three passes, one to the north, one to the
south, and one opening towards the Red Sea which is fifty miles to the
west. The Books do not tell us how Hagar and her son reached Becca;
perhaps some travellers took care of them, for the valley was on one of the
great caravan routes, sometimes called "the incense route", because
perfumes and incense and such wares were brought that way from South
Arabia to the Mediterranean; and no doubt Hagar was guided to leave the
caravan, once the place was reached. It was not long before both mother
and son were overcome by thirst, to the point that Hagar feared Ishmael
was dying. According to the traditions of their descendants, he cried out to
God from where he lay in the sand, and his mother stood on a rock at the
foot of a nearby eminence to see if any help was in sight. Seeing no one, she
hastened to another point of vantage, but from there likewise not a soul
was to be seen. Half distraught, she passed seven times in all between the
two points, until at the end of her seventh course, as she sat for rest on the
further rock, the Angel spoke to her. In the words of Genesis:

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to
Hagar out of heaven and said to her: What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not,
for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise and lift up the
lad and hold him in thy hand, for I will make him a great nation. And
God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water}

The water was a spring which God caused to well up from the sand at the
touch of Ishmael's heel; and thereafter the valley soon became a halt for
caravans by reason of the excellence and abundance of the water; and the
well was named Zamzam.

As to Genesis, it is the book of Isaac and his descendants, not of
Abraham's other line. Of Ishmael it tells us: And God was with the lad;
and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer} After that
it scarcely mentions his name, except to inform us that the two brothers
Isaac and Ishmael together buried their father in Hebron, and that some
years later Esau married his cousin, the daughter of Ishmael. But there is
indirect praise of Ishmael and his mother in the Psalm which opens How
amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, and which tells of the
miracle of Zamzam as having been caused by their passing through the
valley: Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the
ways of them who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well}

^ zi: 17-2,0. ^ ibid. ^ Psalm 84: 5-6.

The House of God 3

When Hagar and Ishmael reached dieir destination Abraham had still
seventy-five years to live, and he visited his son in the holy place to which
Hagar had been guided. The Koran tells us that God showed him the exact
site, near to the well of Zamzam, upon which he and Ishmael must build a
sanctuary;^ and they were told how it must be built. Its name, Ka'bah,
cube, is in virtue of its shape which is approximately cubic; its four corners
are towards the four points of the compass. But the most holy object in that
holy place is a celestial stone which, it is said, was brought by an Angel to
Abraham from the nearby hill Abu Qubays, where it had been preserved
ever since it had reached the earth. "It descended from Paradise whiter
than milk, but the sins of the sons of Adam made it black."^ This black
stone they built into the eastern corner of the Ka'bah; and when the
sanctuary was completed, God spoke again to Abraham and bade him
institute the rite of the Pilgrimage to Becca- or Mecca, as it later came to be
called: Purify My House for those who go the rounds of it and who stand
beside it and bow and make prostration. And proclaim unto men the
pilgrimage, that they may come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel
out of every deep ravine,^

Now Hagar had told Abraham of her search for help, and he made it
part of the rite of the Pilgrimage that the pilgrims should pass seven times
between Safa and Marwah, for so the two eminences between which she
had passed had come to be named.

And later Abraham prayed, perhaps in Canaan, looking round him at
the rich pastures and fields of corn and wheat: Verily I have settled a line of
mine offspring in a tilthless valley at Thy Holy House . . . Therefore incline
unto them mens hearts, and sustain them with fruits that they may be
thankful'

^ XII, ^ Saying of the Prophet, Tir. VI 1, 49. (See Key to References, p. 349.)

» K.XXII,i6-7. " K, XIV, 37.

A Great Loss

ABRAHAM'S prayer was answered, and rich gifts were continually

ZA brought to Mecca by the pilgrims who came to visit the Holy House
JL JL in increasing numbers from all parts of Arabia and beyond. The
Greater Pilgrimage was made once a year; but the Ka*bah could also be
honoured through a lesser pilgrimage at any time; and these rites con-
tinued to be performed with fervour and devotion according to the rules
which Abraham and Ishmael had established. The descendants of Isaac
also venerated the Ka*bah, as a temple that had been raised by Abraham.
For them it counted as one of the outlying tabernacles of the Lord. But as
the centuries passed the purity of the worship of the One God came to be
contaminated. The descendants of Ishmael became too numerous to live
all in the valley of Mecca; and those who went to settle elsewhere took with
them stones from the holy precinct and performed rites in honour of them.
Later, through the influence of neighbouring pagan tribes, idols came to be
added to the stones; and finally pilgrims began to bring idols to Mecca.
These were set up in the vicinity of the Ka'bah, and it was then that the
Jews ceased to visit the temple of Abraham. *

The idolaters claimed that their idols were powers which acted as
mediators between God and men. As a result, their approach to God
became less and less direct, and the remoter He seemed, the dimmer
became their sense of the reality of the World-to-come, until many of them
ceased to believe in life after death. But in their midst, for those who could
interpret it, there was a clear sign that they had fallen away from the truth:
they no longer had access to the Well of Zamzam, and they had even
forgotten where it lay. The Jurhumites who had come from the Yemen
were directly responsible. They had established themselves in control of
Mecca, and the descendants of Abraham had tolerated this because
Ishmael's second wife was a kinswoman of Jurhum; but the time came
when the Jurhumites began to commit all sorts of injustices, for which they
were finally driven out; and before they left they buried the Well of
Zamzam. No doubt they did this by way of revenge, but it was also likely
that they hoped to return and enrich themselves from it, for they filled it up
with part of the treasure of the sanctuary, offerings of pilgrims which had
accumulated in the Ka*bah over the years; then they covered it with sand.

Their place as lords of Mecca was taken by Khuza'ah^, an Arab tribe

• I.I.,i5.

^ See index for note on pronunciation of Arabic names, p. 348.

A Great Loss 5

descended from Ishmael which had migrated to the Yemen and then
returned northwards. But the Khuza'ites now made no attempt to find the
waters that had been miraculously given to their ancestor. Since his day
other wells had been dug in Mecca, God's gift was no longer a necessity,
and the Holy Well became a half forgotten memory.

Khuza'ah thus shared the guilt of Jurhum. They, were also to blame in
other respects: a chieftain of theirs, on his way back from a journey to
Syria, had asked the Moabites to give him one of their idols. They gave him
Hubal, which he brought back to the Sanctuary, setting it up within the
Kabbah itself; and it became the chief idol of Mecca.

Ill

Quraysh of the
Hollow

4 NOTHER of the most powerful Arab tribes of Abrahamic descent
ZA was Quraysh; and about four hundred years after Christ, a man of
X JL Quraysh named Qusayy married a daughter of Hulayl who was
then chief of Khuza'ah. Hulayl preferred his son-in-law to his own sons,
for Qusayy was outstanding amongst Arabs of his time, and on the death
of Hulayl, after a fierce battle which ended in arbitration, it was
agreed that Qusayy should rule over Mecca and be the guardian of the
Kabbah.

He thereupon brought those of Quraysh who were his nearest of kin and
settled them in the valley, beside the Sanctuary - his brother Zuhrah; his
uncle Taym; Makhzum, the son of another uncle; and one or two cousins
who were less close. These and their posterity were known as Quraysh of
the Hollow, whereas Qusayy's more remote kinsmen settled in the ravines
of the surrounding hills and in the countryside beyond and were known as
Quraysh of the Outskirts. Qusayy ruled over them all as king, with
undisputed power, and they paid him a tax every year on their flocks, so
that he might feed those of the pilgrims who were too poor to provide for
themselves. Until then the keepers of the Sanctuary had lived round it in
tents. But Qusayy now told them to build themselves houses, having
already built himself a spacious dwelling which was known as the House
of Assembly.

All was harmonious, but seeds of discord were about to be sown. It was
a marked characteristic of Qusayy's line that in each generation there
would be one man who was altogether pre-eminent. Amongst Qusayy's
four sons, this man was 'Abdu Manaf, who was already honoured in his
father's lifetime. But Qusayy preferred his first-born, *Abd ad-Dar,
although he was the least capable of all; and shortly before his death he
said to him: "My son, I will set thee level with the others in despite of men's
honouring them more than thee. None shall enter the Ka'bah except thou
open it for him, and no hand but thine shall knot for Quraysh their ensign
of war, nor shall any pilgrim draw water for drink in Mecca except thou
give him the right thereto, nor shall he eat food except it be of thy
providing, nor shall Quraysh resolve upon any matter except it be in thy

Quraysh of the Hollow 7

house."' Having thus invested him with all his rights and powers, he
transferred to him the ownership of the House of Assembly.

Out of filial piety 'Abdu Manaf accepted without question his father's
wishes; but in the next generation half of Quraysh gathered round *Abdu
Manaf's son Hashim, clearly the foremost man of his day, and demanded
that the rights be transferred from the clan of *Abd ad-Dar to his clan.
Those who supported Hashim and his brothers were the descendants of
Zuhrah and Taym, and all Qusayy's descendants except those of the eldest
line. The descendants of Makhzum and of the other remoter cousins
maintained that the rights should remain in the family of 'Abd ad-Dar.
Feeling rose so high that the women of the clan of *Abdu Manaf brought a
bowl of rich perfume and placed it beside the Ka*bah; and Hashim and his
brothers and all their allies dipped their hands in it and swore a solemn
oath that they would never abandon one another, rubbing their scented
hands over the stones of the Ka*bah in confirmation of their pact. Thus it
was that this group of clans were known as the Scented Ones, The allies of
'Abd ad-Dar likewise swore an oath of union, and they were known as the
Confederates. Violence was strictly forbidden not only in the Sanctuary
itself but also within a wide circle round Mecca, several miles in diameter,
and the two sides were about to leave this sacred precinct in order to fight a
battle to the death when a compromise was suggested, and it was agreed
that the sons of 'Abdu Manaf should have the rights of levying the tax and
providing the pilgrims with food and drink, whereas the sons of 'Abd
ad-Dar should retain the keys of the Ka*bah and their other rights, and that
their house should continue to be the House of Assembly,

Hashim's brothers agreed that he should have the responsibility of
providing for the pilgrims. When the time of the Pilgrimage drew near he
would rise in the Assembly and say: "O men of Quraysh, ye are God's
neighbours, the people of His House; and at this feast there come unto you
God's visitors, the pilgrims to His House. They are God's guests, and no
guests have such claim on your generosity as His guests. If my own wealth
could compass it, I would not lay this burden upon you."^

Hashim was held in much honour, both at home and abroad. It was he
who established the two great caravan journeys from Mecca, the Caravan
of Winter to the Yemen and the Caravan of Summer to north-west Arabia,
and beyond it to Palestine and Syria, which was then under Byzantine rule
as part of the Roman Empire. Both journeys lay along the ancient incense
route; and one of the first main halts of the summer caravans was the oasis
of Yathrib, eleven camel days north of Mecca. This oasis had at one time
been chiefly inhabited by Jews, but an Arab tribe from South Arabia was
now in control of it. The Jews none the less continued to live there in
considerable prosperity, taking part in the general life of the community
while maintaining their own religion. As to the Arabs of Yathrib, they had
certain matriarchal traditions and were collectively known as the children
of Qaylah after one of their ancestresses. But they had now branched into

' I.I. 8 3 . Throughout this book, everything between quotation marks has been translated
from traditional sources.
2 1.1,87.

8 Muhammad

two tribes which were named Aws and Khazraj after Qaylah's two sons.

One of the most influential women of Khazraj was Salma the daughter
of *Amr, of the clan of Najjar, and Hashim asked her to marry him. She
consented on condition that the control of her affairs should remain
entirely in her own hands; and when she bore him a son she kept the boy
with her in Yathrib until he was fourteen years old or more. Hashim was
not averse to this, for despite the oasis fever, which was more of a danger to
newcomers than to the inhabitants, the climate was healthier than that of
Mecca. Moreover he often went to Syria and would stay with Salma and
his son on the way there and on his return. But Hashim's Hfe was not
destined to be a long one, and during one of his journeys he fell ill at Gaza
in Palestine and died there.

He had two full brothers, *Abdu Shams and Muttalib,^ and one half-
brother, Nawfal. But *Abdu Shams was exceedingly busied with trade in
the Yemen, and later also in Syria, whereas Nawfal was no less busied with
trade in Iraq, and both would be absent from Mecca for long periods. For
these and perhaps for other reasons also, Hashim's younger brother
Muttalib took over the rights of watering the pilgrims and of levying the
tax to feed them; and he now felt it his duty to give thought to the question
of his own successor. Hashim had had three sons by wives other than
Salma, But if all that was said were true, none of these - and for that matter
none of Muttalib's own sons - could be compared with Salma's son.
Despite his youth, Shay bah - for so she had named him - already showed
distinct promise of gifts for leadership, and excellent reports of him were
continually brought to Mecca by travellers who passed through the oasis.
Finally Mutjalib went to see for himself, and what he saw prompted him to
ask Salma to entrust his nephew to his care. Salma was unwilling to let her
son go, and the boy refused to leave his mother without her consent. But
Muttalib was not to be discouraged, and he pointed out to both mother
and son that the possibilities which Yathrib had to offer were not to be
compared with those of Mecca. As guardians of the Holy House, the great
centre of pilgrimage for all Arabia, Quraysh ranked higher in dignity than
any other Arab tribe; and there was a strong likelihood that Shaybah
would one day hold the office which his father had held and so become one
of the chiefs of Quraysh. But for this he must first be integrated into his
people. No mere exile from outside could hope to attain to such honour.
Salma was impressed by his arguments, and if her son went to Mecca it
would be easy for her to visit him there and for him to visit her, so she
agreed to let him go. Muttalib took his nephew with him on the back of his
camel; and as they rode into Mecca he heard some of the bystanders say as
they looked at the young stranger: " *Abd al-Muttalib", that is, "al-Mutt-
alib's slave". "Out upon you," he said, "he is no less than the son of my
brother Hashim." The laughter with which his words were greeted was but
a prelude to the merriment that was caused throughout the city as the story

' The name is al-Muttalib, except in the vocative case where the "al-" must be omitted.
But since this prefix (the definite article) is cumbersome in transcription, the vocative form
has been extended here throughout to most cases of proper names which begin with the
article.

Quraysh of the Hollow 9

of the blunder ran from mouth to mouth; and from that day the youth was
affectionately known as *Abd al-Muttalib.

Not long after his arrival he was involved in a dispute about his father's
estate with his uncle Nawfal: but with the help of his guardian uncle, and
pressure brought to bear from Yathrib, 'Abd al-Muttalib was able to
secure his rights. Nor did he disappoint the hopes that had been encour-
aged by his early promise; and when, after several years, Muttalib died, no
one disputed his nephew's qualifications to succeed to the heavy responsi-
bility of feeding and watering the pilgrims. It was even said that he
surpassed both his father and his uncle in his fulfilment of this task.

The Recovery of
a Loss

AD JOINING the north-west side of the Ka'bah there is a small pre-
ZA cinct surrounded by a low semicircular wall. The two ends of the
JL jL wall stop short of the north and west corners of the House, leav-
ing a passage for pilgrims. But many pilgrims make wide their circle at
this point and include the precinct within their orbit, passing round the
outside of the low wall. The space within it is named Hijr Isma'il, because
the tombs of Ishmael and Hagar lie beneath the stones which pave it.

'Abd al-Muttalib so loved to be near the Ka'bah that he would some-
times order a couch to be spread for him in the Hijr; and one night when he
was sleeping there a shadowy figure came to him in a vision and said: "Dig
sweet clarity." "What is sweet clarity.^" he asked, but the speaker
vanished. He none the less felt such happiness and peace of soul when he
woke that he determined to spend the next night in the same place. The
visitant returned and said: "Dig beneficence." But again his question
received no answer. The third night he was told: "Dig the treasured
hoard", and yet again the speaker vanished at his questioning. But the
fourth night the command was: "Dig Zamzam"; and this time when he
said "What is Zamzam?" the speaker said:

"Dig her, thou shalt not regret.
For she is thine inheritance
From thy greatest ancestor.
Dry she never will, nor fail
To water all the pilgrim throng."

Then the speaker told him to look for a place where there was blood and
dung, an ants' nest, and pecking ravens. Finally he was told to pray "for
clear full flowing water that will water God's pilgrims throughout their
pilgrimage".*

When dawn was breaking 'Abd al-Muttalib rose and left the Hijr at the
north corner of the Holy House which is called the Iraqi Corner. Then he
walked along the north-east wall, at the other end of which is the door of
the Ka'bah; and passing this he stopped, a few feet beyond it, at the east

U.93.

The Recovery of a Loss 1 1

corner, where he reverently kissed the Black Stone. From there he began
the rite of the rounds, going back past the door to the Iraqi Corner, across
the Hijr to the west corner - the Syrian Corner - and thence to the
Yemenite Corner which is towards the south. The children of Abraham,
alike the lines of Ishmael and Isaac, go round their sanctuaries with a
movement opposite to that of the sun. As he walked from the Yemenite
Corner to the Black Stone, he could see the dark slope of Abu Qubays and
beyond it the further eastern hills, sharply outlined against the yellow light.
Seven times he went the round, and each time the light was appreciably
brighter, for in Arabia the dawns and the dusks are brief. Having fulfilled
the rite he went from the Black Stone to the door and, taking hold of the
metal ring which hung from the lock, he prayed the prayer which he had
been told to pray.

There was a sound of wings and a bird alighted in the sand behind him.
Then another bird alighted and having finished his supplication he turned
and watched them strut with their raven's gait towards two statuesque
rocks which were about a hundred yards away, almost opposite the door.
These had been adopted as idols, and it was between them that Quraysh
sacrificed their victims. 'Abd al-Mu^jalib knew well, as did the ravens, that
there was always blood in the sand at that place. There was also dung; and,
going up to it, he now saw that there was an ants' nest.

He went to his house and took two pickaxes, one of which was for his
son Harith whom he brought with him to the place where he knew that he
must dig. The thud of the tools in the sand and the unusual sight - for the
courtyard could be seen from all sides - soon attracted a crowd; and
despite the respect generally felt for 'Abd al-Muttalib, it was not long
before some of them protested that it was a sacrilege to dig at the place of
sacrifice between the idols, and that he must stop. He said he would not,
and told Harith to stand by him and see that no one interfered with his
digging. It was a tense moment, and the outcome could have been
unpleasant. But the two Hashimites were determined and united, whereas
the onlookers had been taken by surprise. Nor did these idols, Isaf and
Na'ilah, hold a high rank among the idols of Mecca, and some even said
that they were a Jurhumite man and woman who had been turned to stone
for profaning the Ka*bah. So 'Abd al-Muttalib continued to dig without
any actual move being made to stop him; and some of the people were
already leaving the sanctuary when suddenly he struck the well's stone
covering and uttered a cry of thanksgiving to God. The crowd reassembled
and increased; and when he began to dig out the treasure which Jurhum
had buried there, everyone claimed the right to a share in it. *Abd
al-Muttalib agreed that lots should be cast for each object, as to whether it
should be kept in the sanctuary or go to him personally or be divided
amongst the tribe. This had become the recognised way of deciding an
issue of doubt, and it was done by means of divining arrows inside the
Ka'bah, in front of the Moabite idol Hubal. In this instance some of the
treasure went to the Ka*bah and some to 'Abd al-Muttalib, but none of it
to Quraysh in general. It was also agreed that the clan of Hashim should
have charge of Zamzam itself, since in any case it was their function to
water the pilgrims.

The Vow to
Sacrifice a Son

^ A^D al-Muttalib was respected by Quraysh for his generosity, his
ZA rehabiUty and his wisdom. He was also a very handsome man,
A. JLwith a most commanding presence. His wealth was yet another
reason why he should consider himself fortunate; and now all this was
crowned by the honour of being the chosen instrument through which
Zamzam had been restored. He was deeply grateful to God for these
blessings; but his soul was still troubled by thoughts of the moment when
he had been told to stop digging, and when everything had seemed to hang
in the balance. All had gone well, praise be to God! But never before had he
felt so keenly his poverty ~ for so it seemed to him - in having only one son.
His cousin Umayyah, for example, the head of the clan of 'Abdu Shams,
was blessed with many sons; and if the digger had been Mughlrah, the
chief of Makhziim, his sons could have made a large and powerful circle
round him. But he himself, although he had more than one wife, had only
one son to uphold him. He was already half resigned to this; but God who
had given him Zamzam could also increase him in other respects; and
encouraged by the favour he had just received he prayed God to give him
more sons, adding to his prayer the vow that if He would bless him with ten
sons and let them all grow to manhood, he would sacrifice one of them to
Him at the Ka'bah.

His prayer was answered: the years passed and nine sons were born to
him. When he made his vow, it had seemed to refer to a very far-off
possibility. But the time came when all his sons were grown up except the
youngest, *Abd Allah, and his vow began to dominate his thoughts. He was
proud of all his sons, but he had never been equally fond of diem all, and it
had long been clear to him that *Abd Allah was the one he loved most.
Perhaps God also preferred this same son, whom He had endowed with
remarkable beauty, and perhaps He would choose him to be sacrificed.
However that might be, *Abd al-Muttalib was a man of his word. The
thought of breaking his oath did not enter his head. He was also a man of
justice, with a deep sense of responsibility, which meant that he knew what
responsibilities were to be avoided. He was not going to place upon himself
the burden of deciding which son he would sacrifice. So when it was no
longer possible to consider *Abd Allah as a mere stripling he gathered his

The Vow to Sacrifice a Son 1 3

ten sons together, told them of his pact with God, and called on them to
help him keep his word. They had no choice but to agree; their father's vow
was their vow; and they asked him what they were to do. He told them to
make each his mark on an arrow. Meanwhile he had sent word to the
official arrow-diviner of Quraysh, asking him to be present at the Ka* bah.
He then took his sons to the Sanctuary and led them into the Holy House,
where he told the diviner about his vow. Each son produced his arrow, and
*Abd al-Muttalib took his stand beside Hubal, drew out a large knife
which he had brought with him, and prayed to God. The lots were cast,
and it was *Abd Allah's arrow that came out. His father took him by the
hand, and with the knife in his other hand he led him to the door, intending
to make straight for the place of sacrifice, as if afraid to give himself time to
think.

But he had not reckoned with the women of his household, and in
particular with 'Abd Allah's mother, Fatimah. His other wives were from
outlying tribes and had relatively little influence in Mecca. But Fatimah
was a woman of Quraysh, of the powerful clan of Makhziim, while on her
mother's side she was descended from *Abd, one of the son's of Qusayy.
All her family were at hand, within easy reach, ready to help her if need be.
Three of the ten sons were hers, Zubayr, Abu Talib and 'Abd Allah. She
was also the mother of 'Abd al-Muttalib's five daughters, who were
devoted to their brothers. These women had not been idle, and no doubt
the other wives had sought Fatimah 's help in view of the danger that hung
over the heads of all the ten sons, one of whom was the owner of the arrow
of sacrifice.

By the time the lots had been cast, a large gathering had assembled in the
courtyard of the Sanctuary. When 'Abd al-Muttalib and 'Abd Allah
appeared on the threshold of the Ka'bah, both as pale as death, a murmur
arose from the Makhzumites as they realised that one of their sister's sons
was the intended victim. "Wherefore that knife.>" called a voice, and
others reiterated the question, though they all knew the answer. 'Abd
al-Muttalib began to tell them of his vow but he was cut short by
Mughlrah, the chief of Makhzum: "Sacrifice him thou shalt not; but offer
a sacrifice in his stead, and though his ransom be all the property of the
sons of Makhzum we will redeem him." 'Abd Allah's brothers had by this
time come out from the Holy House, None of them had spoken, but now
they turned to their father and begged him to let their brother Hve and to
offer some other sacrifice by way of expiation. There was not one man
present who did not take their part, and 'Abd al-Muttalib longed to be
persuaded, but he was filled with scruples. Finally, however, he agreed to
consult a certain wise woman in Yathrib who could tell him whether an
expiation was possible in this case, and if so what form it should take.

Taking with him 'Abd Allah and one or two other sons, 'Abd al-Mut-
talib rode to the country of his birth only to learn that the woman had gone
to Khaybar, a wealthy Jewish settlement in a fertile valley almost a
hundred miles north of Yathrib. So they continued their journey, and when
they had found the woman and told her the facts she promised to consult
her familiar spirit, and bade them return the following day. 'Abd al-Mut-
talib prayed to God, and the next morning the woman said: "Word hath

14 Muhammad

come to me. What is the blood-wite amongst you?" They answered that it
was ten camels. "Return to your country," she said, "and put your man
and ten camels side by side and cast lots between them. If the arrow fall
against your man, add more camels and cast lots again; and if need be add
more camels until your Lord accepts them and the arrow falls against
them. Then sacrifice the camels and let the man live."

They returned to Mecca forthwith, and solemnly led 'Abd Allah and ten
camels to the courtyard of the Ka*bah. 'Abd al-Muttalib went inside the
Holy House, and standing beside Hubal he prayed to God to accept what
they were doing. Then they cast lots, and the arrow fell against ' Abd Allah.
Another ten camels were added, but again the arrow said that the camels
should live and that the man should die. They went on adding camels, ten
at a time, and casting lots with the same result until the number of camels
had reached a hundred. Only then did the arrow fall against them. But
*Abd al-Muttalib was exceedingly scrupulous: for him the evidence of one
arrow was not enough to decide so great an issue. He insisted that they
should cast lots a second and a third time, which they did, and each time
the arrow fell against the camels. At last he was certain that God had
accepted his expiation, and the camels were duly sacrificed.

The Need for a
Prophet

^ ABD al-Muttalib did not pray to Hubal; he always prayed to God
Za - to Allah. But the Moabite idol had been for generations inside
JLjLthe House of God and had become for Quraysh a kind of
personification of the barakah, that is the blessing, the spiritual influence,
which pervaded that greatest of all sanctuaries. There were other lesser
sanctuaries throughout Arabia and the most important of these in the
Hijaz were the temples of three "daughters of God" as some of their
worshippers claimed them to be, al-Lat, al-*Uzzah and Manat. From his
earHest years, like the rest of the Arabs of Yathrib, *Abd al-Muttalib had
been brought up to revere Manat whose temple was at Qudayd on the Red
Sea, almost due west of the oasis. More important for Quraysh was the
shrine of al-*Uzzah in the valley of Nakhlah, a camel day's journey south of
Mecca. Another day's journey in the same direction brougjit the devotee to
Ta'if , a walled town on a luxuriant green tableland, inhabited by Thaqif , a
branch of the great Arab tribe of Hawazin. Al-Lat was "the lady of Ta'if",
and her idol was housed in a rich temple. As guardians of this, Thaqif liked
to think of themselves as the counterpart of Quraysh; and Quraysh went
so far as to speak currently of "the two cities" when they meant Mecca and
Ta'if. But despite the wonderful climate and fertility of "the Garden of the
Hijaz", as Ta'if was called, its people were not un jealous of the barren
valley to their north, for they knew in their hearts that their temple,
however much they might promote it, could never compare with the
House of God. Nor did they altogether wish it were otherwise, for they too
were descended from Ishmael and had roots in Mecca. Their sentiments
were mixed and sometimes conflicting. Quraysh on the other hand were
jealous of no one. They knew that they lived at the centre of the world and
that they had in their midst a magnet capable of drawing pilgrims from all
points of the compass. It was up to them to do nothing that might diminish
the good relationship which had been established between themselves and
the outlying tribes.

*Abd al-Muttalib 's office as host of pilgrims to the Ka*bah imposed on
him an acute awareness of these things. His function was an intertribal
one, and it was shared to a certain extent by all Quraysh. The pilgrims
must be made to feel that Mecca was a home from home, and welcoming

1 6 Muhammad

them meant welcoming what they worshipped and never failing to show
honour to the idols they brought with them. The justification and author-
ity for accepting idols and believing in their efficacy was that of tradition:
their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers had done so. None
the less, God was, for 'Abd al-Muttalib, the great reality; and he was no
doubt nearer to the religion of Abraham than most of his contemporaries
of Quraysh and Khuza'ah and Hawazin and other Arab tribes.

But there were - and always had been - a few who maintained the full
purity of Abrahamic worship. They alone realised that far from being
traditional, idol worship was an innovation - a danger to be guarded
against. It only needed a longer view of history to see that Hubal was no
better than the golden calf of the son's of Israel. These Hunafa',' as they
called themselves, would have nothing to do with the idols, whose
presence in Mecca they looked on as a profanation and a pollution. Their
refusal to compromise and their frequent outspokenness relegated them to
the fringe of Meccan society where they were respected, tolerated or
ill-treated, partly according to their personalities and partly according to
whether their clans were prepared to protect them or not.

'Abd al-Muttalib knew four of the Hunafa', and one of the more
respected of them, Waraqah by name, was the son of his second cousin
Nawfal,- of the clan of Asad. Waraqah had become a Christian; and there
was a belief among Christians of those parts that the coming of a Prophet
was imminent. This belief may not have been widespread, but it was
supported by one or two venerable dignitaries of eastern churches and also
by the astrologers and soothsayers. As to the Jews, for whom such a belief
was easier, since for them the line of Prophets ended only with the Messiah,
they were almost unanimous in their expectancy of a Prophet. Their rabbis
and other wise men assured them that one was at hand; many of the
predicted signs of his coming had already been fulfilled; and he would, of
course, be a Jew, for they were the chosen people. The Christians,
Waraqah amongst them, had their doubts about this; they saw no reason
why he should not be an Arab. The Arabs stood in need oiF a Prophet even
more than the Jews, who at least still followed the religion of Abraham
inasmuch as they worshipped the One God and did not have idols; and
who but a Prophet would be capable of ridding the Arabs of their worship
of false gods? In a wide circle round the Ka'bah, at some distance from it,
there were 3 60 idols; and in addition to these almost every house in Mecca
had its god, an idol large or small which was the centre of the household.
As his last act on leaving the premises, especially if it was for a journey, a
man would go to the idol and stroke it in order to obtain blessings from it,
and such was the first act on returning home. Nor was Mecca exceptional
in this respect, for these practices prevailed throughout most of Arabia.
There were, it was true, some well established Arab Christian communities
to the south, in Najran and the Yemen, as well as to the north near the
frontiers of Syria; but God's latest intervention, which had transformed
the Mediterranean and vast tracts of Europe, had made, in nearly six

^ The word hanif^ plural hunafa', has the sense of "orthodox". See K, VI, 161.
^ Not to be confused with Hashim's brother Nawfal, after whom the clan of Nawfal was
named.

The Need for a Prophet 1 7

hundred years, practically no impact on the pagan society which centred
on the Meccan shrine. The Arabs of the Hijaz and of the great plain of
Najd to its east seemed impervious to the message of the Gospels.

Not that Quraysh and the other pagan tribes were hostile to Christian-
ity. Christians sometimes came to do honour to the Sanctuary of Abraham,
and they were made welcome like all the rest. Moreover one Christian had
been allowed and even encouraged to paint an icon of the Virgin Mary and
the child Christ on an inside wall of the Ka'bah, where it sharply
contrasted with all the other paintings. But Quraysh were more or less
insensitive to this contrast: for them it was simply a question of increasing
the multitude of idols by another two; and it was partly their tolerance that
made them so impenetrable.

Unlike most of his tribe, Waraqah could read and had made a study of
the scriptures and of theology. He was therefore capable of seeing that in
one of Christ's promises, generally interpreted by Christians as referring to
the miracle of Pentecost, there were none the less certain elements which
did not fit that miracle and must be taken to refer to something else -
something which had not yet been fulfilled. But the language was cryptic:
what was the meaning of the words: he shall not speak of himself, but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak?

Waraqah had a sister named Qutaylah who was very close to him. He
often spoke to her about these things, and his words had made so great an
impression on her that thoughts of the expected Prophet were often in her
mind. Could it be that he was already in their midst?

Once the sacrifice of the camels had been accepted, 'Abdal-Muttalib made
up his mind to find a wife for his reprieved son, and after some considera-
tion the choice fell on Aminah, the daughter of Wahb, a grandson of
Zuhrah, the brother of Qusayy.

_ Wahb had been chief of Zuhrah but had died some years previously and
Aminah was now a ward of his brother Wuhayb, who had succeeded him
as chief of the clan. Wuhayb himself also had a daughter of marriageable
age, Halah by name, and when 'Abd al-Muttalib had arranged that his son
should marry Aminah, he asked that Halah should be given in marriage to
himself. Wuhayb agreed, and all preparations were made for the double
wedding to take place at the same time. On the appointed day, 'Abd
al-Muttalib took his son by the hand, and they set off together for the
dwellings of the Bani Zuhrah.^ On the way they had to pass the dwellings
of the Bani Asad; and it so happened that Qutaylah, the sister of Waraqah,
was standing at the entrance to her house, perhaps deliberately in order to
see what could be seen, for everyone in Mecca knew of the great wedding
which was about to take place. 'Abd al-Muttalib was now over seventy
years old, but he was still remarkably young for his age in every respect;
and the slow approach of the two bridegrooms, their natural grace
enhanced by the solemnity of the occasion, was indeed an impressive sight.
But as they drew near, Qutaylah had eyes only for the younger man. 'Abd
Allah was, for beauty, the Joseph of his times. Even the oldest men and
' St John 16: 13.

^ The sons (i.e. descendants) of Zuhrah; bani is the plural of ibn, son.

1 8 Muhammad

women of Quraysh could not remember having seen his equal. He was
now in his twenty-fifth year, in the full flower of his youth. But Qutaylah
was struck above all - as she had been on other occasions, but never so
much as now - by the radiance which lit his face and which seemed to her
to shine from beyond this world. Could it be that *Abd Allah was the
expected Prophet? Or was he to be the father of the Prophet?

They had now just passed her, and overcome by a sudden impulse she
said "O *Abd Allah". His father let go his hand as if to tell him to speak to
his cousin. * Abd Allah turned back to face her, and she asked him where he
was going. "With my father," he said simply, not out of reticence but
because he felt sure that she must know that he was on his way to his
wedding. "Take me here and now as thy wife," she said, "and thou shalt
have as many camels as those that were sacrificed in thy stead." "I am with
my father," he replied. "I cannot act against his wishes, and I cannot leave
him."^

The marriages took place according to plan, and the two couples stayed
for some days in the house of Wuhayb. During that time * Abd Allah went
to fetch something from his own house, and again he met Qutaylah, the
sister of Waraqah. Her eyes searched his face with such earnestness that he
stopped beside her, expecting her to speak. When she remained silent, he
asked her why she did not say to him what she had said the day before. She
answered him, saying: "The light hath left thee that was with thee
yesterday. Today thou canst not fulfil the need I had of thee."^

The year of the marriages was ad 569. The year following this has been
known ever since as the Year of the Elephant, and it was momentous for
more than one reason.

I.Lioo. ^ U.101.

VII

The Year of the
Elephant

4 T that time the Yemen was under the rule of Abyssinia, and an
ZA Abyssinian named Abrahah was vice-regent. He built a magnificent
JL JL cathedral in San'a', hoping thereby to make it supersede Mecca as
the great place of pilgrimage for all Arabia. He had marble brought to it
from one of the derelict palaces of the Queen of Sheba, and he set up
crosses in it of gold and of silver, and pulpits of ivory and ebony, and he
wrote to his master, the Negus: "I have built thee a church, O King, the like
of which was never built for any king before thee; and I shall not rest until I
have diverted unto it the pilgrimage of the Arabs." Nor did he make any
secret of his intention, and great was the anger of the tribes throughout
Hijaz and Najd, Finally a man of Kinanah, a tribe akin to Quraysh, went to
San'a* for the deliberate purpose of defiling the church, which he did one
night and then returned safely to his people.

When Abrahah heard of this he vowed that in revenge he would raze the
Ka'bah to the ground; and having made his preparations he set off for
Mecca with a large army, in the van of which he placed an elephant. Some
of the Arab tribes north of San'a' attempted to bar his way, but the
Abyssinians put them to flight and captured their leader, Nufayl of the
tribe of Khath*am. By way of ransom for his life, he offered to act as
guide.

When the army reached Ta'if , the men of Thaqif came out to meet them,
afraid that Abrahah might destroy their temple of al-Lat in mistake for the
Ka'bah. They hastened to point out to him that he had not yet reached his
goal, and they offered him a guide for the remainder of his march.
Although he already had Nufayl, he accepted their offer, but the man died
on the way, about two miles from Mecca, at a place called Mughammis,
and they buried him. Afterwards the Arabs took to stoning his grave, and
the people who live there still stone it to this day.

Abrahah halted at Mughammis, and sent on a detachment of horse to
the outskirts of Mecca. They took what they could on the way, and sent
back their plunder to Abrahah, including two hundred camels which were
the property of 'Abd al-Muttalib. Quraysh and other neighbouring tribes
held a council of war, and decided that it was useless to try to resist the
enemy. Meanwhile Abrahah sent a messenger to Mecca, bidding him to
ask for the chief man there. He was to tell him they had not come to fight

zo Muhammad

but only to destroy the temple, and if he wished to avoid all bloodshed he
must come to the Abyssinian camp.

There had been no official chief of Quraysh since the time when their
privileges and responsibilities had been divided between the houses of
'Abd ad-Dar and *Abdu Manaf. But most people had their opinion as to
which of the chiefs of the clans was in fact if not by right the leading man of
Mecca, and on this occasion the messenger was directed to the house of
*Abd al-Muttalib who, together with one of his sons, went back with the
messenger to the camp. When Abrahah saw him he was so impressed by his
appearance that he rose from his royal seat to greet him and then sat beside
him on the carpet, telling his interpreter to inquire if he had a favour to ask.
*Abd al-Muttalib replied that the army had taken two hundred of his
camels and he asked that they should be returned to him. Abrahah was
somewhat surprised at the request, and said that he was disappointed in
him, that he should be thinking of his camels rather than his religion which
they had now come to destroy. 'Abd al-Muttalib replied: "I am the lord of
the camels, and the temple likewise hath a lord who will defend it/' "He
cannot defend it against me," said Abrahah. "We shall see," said 'Abd
al-Muttalib. "But give me my camels." And Abrahah gave orders for the
camels to be returned.

*Abd ai-Muttalib returned to Quraysh and advised them to withdraw to
the hills above the town. Then he went with some of his family and others
to the Sanctuary. They stood beside him, praying to God for His help
against Abrahah and his army, and he himself took hold of the metal ring
in the middle of the Ka'bah door and said: "O God, thy slave protecteth his
house. Protect Thou Thy House!" Having thus prayed, he went with the
others to join the rest of Quraysh in the hills at points where they could see
what took place in the valley below.

The next morning Abrahah made ready to march into the town,
intending to destroy the Ka'bah and then return to San'a' by the way they
had come. The elephant, richly caparisoned, was led into the front of the
army, which was already drawn up; and when the mighty animal reached
his position his keeper Unays turned him the same way as the troops were
turned, that is towards Mecca. But Nufayl, the reluctant guide, had
marched most of the way in the van of the army with Unays, and had
learned from him some of the words of command which the elephant
understood; and while the head of Unays was turned to watch for the
signal to advance, Nufayl took hold of the great ear and conveyed into it a
subdued but intense imperative to kneel. Thereupon, to the surprise and
dismay of Abrahah and the troops, the elephant slowly and deliberately
knelt himself down to the ground. Unays ordered him to rise, but Nufayl's
word had coincided with a command more powerful than that of any man,
and the elephant would not move. They did everything they could to bring
him to his feet; they even beat him about the head with iron bars and stuck
iron hooks into his belly, but he remained like a rock. Then they tried the
strategem of making the whole army turn about and march a few paces in
the direction of the Yemen. He at once rose to his feet, turned round and
followed them. Hopefully they turned round about again, and he also
turned, but no sooner was he f acing Mecca than again he knelt.

The Year of the Elephant 2,1

This was the clearest of portents not to move one step further forward,
but Abrahah was blinded by his personal ambition for the sanctuary he
had built and by his determination to destroy its great rival. If they had
turned back then, perhaps they would all have escaped disaster. But
suddenly it was too late: the western sky grew black, and a strange sound
was heard; its volume increased as a great wave of darkness swept upon
them from the direction of the sea, and the air above their heads, as high as
they could see, was full of birds. Survivors said that they flew with a flight
like that of swifts, and each bird had three pebbles the size of dried peas,
one in its beak and one between the claws of each foot. They swooped to
and fro over the ranks, pelting as they swooped, and the pebbles were so
hard and launched with such velocity that they pierced even coats of mail.
Every stone found its mark and killed its man, for as soon as a body was
struck its flesh began to rot, quickly in some cases, more gradually in
others. Not everyone was hit, and amongst those spared were Unays and
the elephant, but all Were terror-stricken. A few remained in the Hijaz and
earned a livelihood by shepherding and other work. But the main part of
the army returned in disorder to San*a': Many died by the wayside, and
many others, Abrahah included, died soon after their return. As to Nufayl,
he had slipped away from the army while all attention was concentrated on
the elephant, and he made his way unscathed to the hills above Mecca.

After that day Quraysh were called by the Arabs "the people of God",
and they were held in even greater respect than before, because God had
answered their prayers and saved the Ka*bah from destruction. They are
still honoured, but rather on account of a second event - no doubt not
unconnected with the first - which took place in that same Year of the
Elephant.

'Abd Allah, the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib, was not in Mecca at the time of
the miracle of the birds. He had gone for trade to Palestine and Syria with
one of the caravans; and on his way home he had lodged with his
grandmother's family in Yathrib, and there he had fallen ill. The caravan
went on without him to Mecca and when it brought the news of his illness
'Abd al-Muttalib sent Harith to accompany his brother home as soon as he
should be well enough to travel. But when Harith arrived at the house of
his Yathrib cousins they answered his greetings with commiserations, and
he knew at once that his brother was dead.

There was great grief in Mecca when Harith returned. Aminah's one
consolation was the unborn child of her dead husband, and her solace
increased as the time of her delivery drew near. She was conscious of a light
within her, and one day it shone forth from her so intensely that she could
see the castles of Bostra in Syria, And she heard a voice say to her: "Thou
carriest in thy womb the lord of this people; and when he is born say: 'I
place him beneath the protection of the One, from the evil of every envier';
then name him Muhammad."'

Some weeks later the child was born. Aminah was in the home of her
uncle, and she sent word to 'Abd al-Muttalib, asking him to come to see his

' U.102.

22 Muhammad

grandson. He took the boy in his arms and carried him to the Sanctuary
and into the Holy House, where he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God
for this gift. Then he brought him once more to his mother, but on the way
he showed him to his own household. He himself was shortly to have
another son, by Aminah's cousin Halah. At the moment his youngest son
was the three-year-old * Abbas who now met him at the door of his house.
"This is thy brother; kiss him," he said, holding out to him the new-bom
babe, and * Abbas kissed him.

VIII

The Desert

IT was the custom of all the great families of Arab towns to send their
sons, soon after their birth, into the desert, to be suckled and weaned
and spend part of their childhood amongst one of the Bedouin tribes.
Nor had Mecca any reason for being an exception, since epidemics were
not infrequent and the rate of infant mortality was high. But it was not only
the desert's fresh air that they wished their sons to imbibe. That was for
their bodies, but the desert had also its bounty for souls. Quraysh had only
recently taken to the sedentary life. Until Qusayy had told them to build
themselves houses round the Sanctuary they had been more or less
nomadic. Fixed settlements were perhaps inevitable, but they were danger-
ous. Their ancestors' way of life had been the nobler one, the life of
tent-dwellers, often on the move. Nobility and freedom were inseparable,
and the nomad was free. In the desert a man was conscious of being the
lord of space, and in virtue of that lordship he escaped in a sense from the
domination of time. By striking camp he sloughed off his yesterdays; and
tomorrow seemed less of a fatality if its where as well as its when had yet to
come. But the townsman was a prisoner; and to be fixed in one place, —
yesterday, today, tomorrow — was to be a target for time, the ruiner of all
things. Towns were places of corruption. Sloth and slovenHness lurked in
the shadow of their walls, ready to take the edge off a man's alertness and
vigilance. Everything decayed there, even language, one of man's most
precious possessions. Few of the Arabs could read, but beauty of speech
was a virtue which all Arab parents desired for their children. A man's
worth was largely assessed by his eloquence, and the crown of eloquence
was poetry. To have a great poet in the family was indeed something to be
proud of; and the best poets were nearly always from one or another of the
desert tribes, for it was in the desert that the spoken language was nearest
to poetry.

So the bond with the desert had to be renewed in every generation - fresh
air for the breast, pure Arabic for the tongue, freedom for the soul; and
many of the sons of Quraysh were kept as long as eight years in the desert,
so that it might make a lasting impression upon them, though a lesser
number of years was enough for that.

Some of the tribes had a high reputation for nursing and rearing
children, and amongst these were the Bani Sa'd ibn Bakr, an outlying
branch of Hawazin, whose territory lay to the south-east of Mecca.
Aminah was in favour of entrusting her son to the care of a woman of this

Z4 Muhammad

tribe. They came periodically to Quraysh for nurselings, and some were
expected shortly. Their journey to Mecca on this occasion was described in
after-years by one of their number, Halimah, the daughter of Abu
Dhu*ayb, who was accompanied by her husband, Harith, and a recently
born son of their own whom she was nursing. "It was a year of drought,"
she said, "and we had nothing left. I set forth on a grey she-ass of mine, and
we had with us an old she-camel which could not yield one drop of milk.
We were kept awake all night by our son who was wailing for hunger, for I
had not enough in my breasts to feed him; and that ass of mine was so weak
and so emaciated that I often kept the others waiting."

She told how they went on their way with nothing to hope for except a
fall of rain which would enable the camel and the ass to graze enough for
their udders to swell a little, but by the time they reached Mecca no rain
had fallen. Once there they set about looking for nurselings, and Aminah
offered her son first to one and then to another until finally she had tried
them all and they had all refused, "That", said Halimah, "was because we
hoped for some favour from the boy's father. *An orphan!' we said. *What
will his mother and his grandfather be able to do for us.^'" Not that they
would have wanted direct payment for their services, since it was consid-
ered dishonourable for a woman to take a fee for suckling a child. The
recompense they hoped for, though less direct and less immediate, was of a
far wider scope. This interchange of benefits between townsman and
nomad was in the nature of things, for each was poor where the other was
rich, and rich where the other was poor. The nomad had the age-old
God-given way of life to offer, the way of Abel. The sons of Cain - for it
was Cain who built the first villages — had possessions and power. The
advantage for the Bedouin was to make an enduring link with one of the
great families. The foster-mother gained a new son who would look on her
as a second mother and feel a filial duty to her for the rest of his hfe. He
would also feel himself a brother to her own children. Nor was the
relationship merely a nominal one. The Arabs hold that the breast is one of
the channels of heredity and that a suckling drinks qualities into his nature
from the nurse who suckles him. But little or nothing could be expected
from the foster-child himself until he grew up, and meantime his father
could normally be relied on to fulfil the duties of his son. A grandfather was
too remote; and in this case they would have known that 'Abd al-Muttalib
was an old man who could not reasonably be expected to live much longer.
When he died, his sons, not his grandson, would be his heirs. As to
Aminah, she was poor; and as to the boy himself, his father had been too
young to have acquired wealth. He had left his son no more than five
camels, a small flock of sheep and goats, and one slave girl. 'Abd Allah's
son was indeed a child of one of the great famiUes; but he was by far the
poorest nurseling that these women were offered that year.

On the other side, though the foster-parents were not expected to be
rich, they must not be too poverty-stricken, and it was evident that
Halimah and her husband were poorer than any of their companions.
Whenever the choice lay between her and another, the other was preferred
and chosen; and it was not long before every one of the Bani Sa*d women
except Halimah had been entrusted with a babe. Only the poorest nurse

The Desert 25

was without a nurseling; and only the poorest nurseling was without a
nurse.

"When we decided to leave Mecca," said Halimah, "I told my husband:
*I hate to return in the company of my friends without having taken a babe
to suckle. 1 shall go to that orphan and take him.' 'As thou wilt,' he said. 'It
may be that God will bless us in him.' So I went and took him, for no reason
save that I could find none but him. I carried him back to where our mounts
were stationed, and no sooner had I put him in my bosom than my breasts
overflowed with milk for him. He drank his fill, and with him his
foster-brother drank Ukewise his fill. Then they both slept; and my
husband went to that old she-camel of ours, and lo! her udders were full.
He milked her and drank of her milk and I drank with him until we could
drink no more and our hunger was satisfied. We spent the best of nights,
and in the morning my husband said to me: 'By God, Halimah, it is a
blessed creature that thou hast taken.' 'That is indeed my hope,' I said.
Then we set out, and I rode my ass and carried him with me on her back.
She outstripped the whole troop, nor could any of their asses keep pace
with her. 'Confound thee!' they said to me, 'Wait for us! Is not this ass of
thine the same ass that thou didst come on?' 'Yea by God,' I said, 'she is the
very same.* 'Some wonder hath befallen her,' they said.

"We reached our tents in the Bani Sa'd country, and I know of no place
on God's earth more barren than that then was. But after we brought him
to live with us, my flock would come home to me replete at every eventide
and full of milk. We milked them and drank, when others had no drop of
milk; and our neighbours would say to their shepherds: 'Out upon you, go
graze your flocks where he grazeth his,' meaning my shepherd. Yet still
their flocks came hungry home, yielding no milk, while mine came well fed,
with milk in plenty; and we ceased not to enjoy this increase and this
bounty from God until the babe's two years had passed, and I weaned
him.^

"He was growing well," she continued, "and none of the other boys
could match him for growth. By the time he was two years old he was a
well made child, and we took him again to his mother, although we were
eager that he should stay with us for the blessings he brought us. So I said to
her: 'Leave my little son with me until he grow stronger, for I fear lest he be
stricken with the plague of Mecca.' And we importuned her until she gave
him once more into our keeping and we brought him again to our home.

"One day, several months after our return, when he and his brother
were with some lambs of ours behind our tents, his brother came running
to us and said: 'That Qurayshite brother of mine! Two men clothed in
white have taken him and have laid him down and opened his breast and
they are stirring it with their hands.' So I and his father went to him and we
found him standing, but his face was very pale. We drew him to us and
said: 'What aileth thee, my son?' He said: 'Two men clothed in white came
to me and laid me down and opened my breast and searched it for I know
not what,'"^

Halimah and yarith her husband looked this way and that, but there

U.105. 2 ibid.

z6 Muhammad

was no sign of the men; nor was there any blood or any wound to bear out
what the two boys had said. No amount of questioning would make them
take back their words or modify them in any respect. Yet there was not
even the trace of a scar on the breast of their foster-child nor any blemish
on his perfect little body. The only unusual feature was in the middle of his
back between his shoulders: a small but distinct oval mark where the flesh
was slightly raised, as it were from the impress of a cupping glass; but that
had been there at his birth.

In after-years he was able to describe the event more fully: "There came
unto me two men, clothed in white, with a gold basin full of snow. Then
they laid hold upon me, and splitting open my breast they brought forth
my heart. This likewise they split open and took from it a black clot which
they cast away. Then they washed my heart and my breast with the
snow."^ He also said: "Satan toucheth every son of Adam the day his
mother beareth him, save only Mary and her son."^

I.S. 1/1,96 ^ B.LX,54.

Two Bereavements

HALIMAH and Harith were convinced that the boys had been
speaking the truth, and they were exceedingly shaken in conse-
quence. Harith feared that their foster-son had been possessed by
an evil spirit or smitten by some spell, and he told his wife to take him with
all speed to his mother before the harm he had suffered became apparent
in him. So Halimah took him once more to Mecca, intending to say noth-
ing about the real reason for her change of mind. But the change was too
abrupt and Aminah, not to be deceived, finally compelled her to recount
the whole story. Having heard it, she dismissed HalTmah*s fears, saying:
"Great things are in store for my little son." Then she told her of her
pregnancy, and of the light she had been conscious of carrying within her.
Halimah was reassured, but this time Aminah decided to keep her son.
"Leave him with me," she said, "and a good journey home."

The boy lived happily in Mecca with his mother for about three years,
winning the affection of his grandfather and his uncles and aunts, and his
many cousins with whom he played. Particularly dear to him were
Hamzah and Safiyyah, the children of *Abd al-Muttalib's last marriage
which had taken place on the same day as that of Muhammad's parents.
Hamzah was his own age, Safiyyah a little younger — his uncle and his aunt
through his father, his cousins through his mother - and a powerful and
lasting bond was formed between the three of them.

When he was six years old, his mother decided to take him on a visit to
his kinsmen in Yathrib. They joined one of the northbound caravans,
riding on two camels, Aminah on one of them and he on the other with his
devoted slave girl, Barakah. In later life he recounted how he learned to
swim in a pool which belonged to his Khazrajite kinsmen with whom they
stayed, and how the boys taught him to fly a kite. But not long after they
had set out on their return journey Aminah fell ill and they were obliged to
halt, letting the caravan go on without them. After some days she died - it
was at Abwa', not far from Yathrib — and there she was buried. Barakah
did what she could to console the boy, now doubly an orphan, and in the
company of some travellers she brought him once more to Mecca.

His grandfather now took complete charge of him, and it soon became
clear that his special love for *Abd Allah had been transferred to 'Abd
Allah's son. 'Abd al-Muttalib was always happy to be near the Ka'bah, as
when it had been his wont to sleep in the Hijr at the time when he had been
ordered to dig Zamzam. So his family used to spread him a couch every day
in the shadow of the Holy House, and out of respect for their father none of

28 Muhammad

his sons, not even Hamzah, would ever venture to sit on it; but his little
grandson had no such scruples, and when his uncles told him to sit
elsewhere 'Abd al-Muttalib said: "Let my son be. For by God, a great
future is his." He would seat him beside him on the couch, and stroke his
back; and it always pleased him to watch what he was doing. Almost every
day they could be seen together, hand in hand, at the Ka'bah or elsewhere
in Mecca. 'Abd al-Muttalib even took Muhammad with him when he
went to attend the Assembly where the chief men of the town, all over
forty, would meet to discuss various matters, nor did the eighty-year-old
man refrain from asking the seven-year-old boy his opinion on this or that;
and when called to question by his fellow dignitaries, he would always
say: "A great future is in store for my son."

Two years after the death of his mother, the orphan was bereaved of his
grandfather. When he was dying, * Abd al-Muttalib entrusted his grandson
to Abu Talib, who was full brother to the boy's father; and Abu Talib
prolonged the affection and the kindness that his nephew had received
from the old man. Henceforth he was as one of his own sons, and his wife
Fatimah' did all she could to replace the boy's mother. In after-years
Muhammad used to say of her that she would have let her own children go
hungry rather than him.

' Like Abu Talib she was a grandchild of Hashim, the daughter of his son Asad,
half-brother of *Abd al-Muttalib.

BahTra the Monk

THE fortunes of *Abd al-Muttalib had waned during the last part of
his life, and what he left at his death amounted to no more than a
small legacy for each of his sons. Some of them, especially *Abd
al-*Uzzah who was known as Abu Lahab, had acquired wealth of their
own. But Abu Talib was poor, and his nephew felt obliged to do what he
could to earn his own livelihood. This he did mostly by pasturing sheep
and goats, and he would thus spend day after day alone in the hills above
Mecca or on the slopes of the valleys beyond. But his uncle took him
sometimes with him on his travels and on one occasion when Muhammad
was nine, or according to others twelve, they went with a merchant
caravan as far as Syria. At Bostra, near one of the halts where the Meccan
caravan always stopped, there was a cell which had been lived in by a
Christian monk for generation after generation. When one died, another
took his place and inherited all that was in the cell including some old
manuscripts. Amongst these was one which contained the prediction of the
coming of a Prophet to the Arabs; and Bahira, the monk who now lived in
the cell, was well versed in the contents of this book, which interested him
all the more because, like Waraqah, he too felt that the coming of the
prophet would be in his lifetime.

He had often seen the Meccan caravan approach and halt not far from
his cell, but as this one came in sight his attention was struck by something
the like of which he had never seen before: a small low-hanging cloud
moved slowly above their heads so that it was always between the sun and
one or two of the travellers. With intense interest he watched them draw
near. But suddenly his interest changed to amazement, for as soon as they
halted the cloud ceased to move, remaining stationary over the tree
beneath which they took shelter, while the tree itself lowered its branches
over them, so that they were doubly in the shade. Bahira knew that such a
portent, though unobtrusive, was of high significance. Only some great
spiritual presence could explain it, and immediately he thought of the
expected Prophet. Could it be that he had at last come, and was amongst
these travellers ?

The cell had recently been stocked with provisions, and putting to-
gether all he had, he sent word to the caravan: "Men of Quraysh, I have
prepared food for you, and I would that ye should come to me, every one of
you, young and old, bondman and freeman." So they came to his cell, but
despite what he had said they left Muhammad to look after their camels
and their baggage. As they approached, Bahira scanned their faces one by

30 Muhammad

one. But he could see nothing which corresponded to the description in his
book, nor did there seem to be any man amongst them who was adequate
to the greatness of the two miracles. Perhaps they had not all come. "Men
of Quraysh," he said, "let none of you stay behind." "There is not one that
hath been left behind," they answered, "save only a boy, the youngest of us
all." "Treat him not so" said Bahifa, "but call him to come, and let him
be present with us at this meal." Abu Talib and the others reproached
themselves for their thoughtlessness. "We are indeed to blame," said one
of them, "that the son of *Abd Allah should have been left behind and not
brought to share this feast with us," whereupon he went to him and
embraced him and brought him to sit with the people.

One glance at the boy's face was enough to explain the miracles to
Bahira; and looking at him attentively throughout the meal he noticed
many features of both face and body which corresponded to what was in
his book. So when they had finished eating, the monk went to his youngest
guest and asked him questions about his way of life and about his sleep,
and about his affairs in general. Muhammad readily informed him of these
things for the man was venerable and the questions were courteous and
benevolent; nor did he hesitate to draw off his cloak when finally the monk
asked if he might see his back. Bahira had already felt certain, but now he
was doubly so, for there, between his shoulders, was the very mark he
expected to see, the seal of prophethood even as it was described in his
book, in the selfsame place. He turned to Abu Talib: "What kinship hath
this boy with thee.>" he said. "He is my son," said Abu Talib. "He is not thy
son," said the monk; "it cannot be that this boy's father is alive." "He is
my brother's son," said Abu Talib. "Then what of his father?" said the
monk. "He died," said the other, "when the boy was still in his mother's
womb." "That is the truth," said Bahira. "Take thy brother's son back to
his country, and guard him against the Jews, for by God, if they see him
and know of him that which I know, they will contrive evil against him.
Great things are in store for this brother's son of thine."

A Pact of Chivalry

WHEN he had finished his trading in Syria, Abu Talib returned to
Mecca with his nephew, who continued his solitary life as
before. But his uncles saw to it that he, as also *Abbas and
Hamzah, had some training in the use of weapons of war. Hamzah was
clearly destined to be a man of mighty stature, endowed with great
physical strength. He was already a good swordsman and a good wrestler.
Muhammad was of average height and average strength. He had a marked
aptitude for archery, and gave every promise of being an excellent
bowman, like his great ancestors, Abraham and Ishmael. A powerful
asset for this lay in the strength of his eyesight: he was reputed to be
able to count no less than twelve of the stars of the constellation of the
Pleiades.

In those years Quraysh were not involved in any fighting except for a
spasmodic and intermittent conflict which came to be known as the
sacrilegious war because it had started in one of the sacred months. A
profligate of Kinanah had treacherously murdered a man of *Amir, one of
the Hawazin tribes of Najd, and had taken refuge in the impregnable
fortress township of Khaybar. The sequence of events followed the usual
desert pattern: honour demanded revenge, so the tribe of the murdered
man attacked Kinanah, the tribe of the murderer, and Quraysh were
involved, somewhat ingloriously, as allies of Kinanah. The conflict drag-
ged on for three or four years in which there were only five days of actual
fighting. The head of the clan of Hashim was at that time Zubayr, full
brother, like Abu Talib, of Muhammad's father. Zubayr and Abu Talib
took their nephew with them to one of the first battles, but they said he was
too young to fight. He was none the less allowed to help by gathering
enemy arrows that had missed their mark and handing them to his uncles
so that they could shoot them back.^ But at one of the subsequent battles,
where Quraysh and their allies had the worst of the day, he was allowed to
show his skill as a bowman and was praised for his valour.^

The war helped to fan the growing discontent which every sedentary
community tends to feel with the law of the desert. Most of the leading men
of Quraysh had travelled to Syria and had seen for themselves the relative
justice which prevailed in the Roman Empire. It was also possible in
Abyssinia to have justice without recourse to fighting. But in Arabia there
was no comparable system of law by which a victim of crime, or his family,
might obtain redress; and it was natural that the sacrilegious war, like

1 1.H.119, 2 I.S. 1/1,81.

3 2, Muhammad

other conflicts before it, should have set many minds thinking of ways and
means to prevent the same thing from happening again. But this time the
result was more than mere thoughts and words: as far as Quraysh were
concerned, there was now a widespread readiness to take action; and their
sense of justice was put to the test by a scandalous incident which took
place in Mecca in the first few weeks after the end of the fighting.

A merchant from the Yemeni port of Zabid had sold some valuable
goods to a notable of the clan of Sahm. Having taken possession of these,
the Sahmite refused to pay the promised price. The wronged merchant, as
his wronger well knew, was a stranger to Mecca, and had no confederate
or patron in all the city to whom he might go for help. But he was not to be
overawed by the other man's insolent self-assurance; and, taking his stand
on the slope of Abu Qubays, he appealed to Quraysh as a whole, with loud
and vehement eloquence, to see that justice was done. An immediate
response came from most of those clans which had no traditional alliance
with Sahm. Quraysh were bent above all on being united, regardless of
clan; but within that union there was still an acute consciousness of the rift
which had divided them, over the legacy of Qusayy, into two groups, the
Scented Ones and the Confederates, and Sahm were of the Confederates.
One of the leaders of the other group, and one of the wealthiest men in
Mecca at this time, was the chief of Taym, *Abd Allah ibn Jud'an, and he
now offered his large house as a meeting-place for all lovers of justice.
From amongst the Scented Ones, only the clans of 'Abdu Shams and
Nawfal were absent. Hashim, Muttalib, Zuhrah, Asad and Taym were all
well represented, and they were joined by *Adi, which had been one of the
Confederates. Having decided, after an earnest discussion, that it was
imperative to found an order of chivalry for the furtherance of justice and
the protection of the weak, they went in a body to the Ka'bah where they
poured water over the Black Stone, letting it flow into a receptacle. Then
each man drank of the thus hallowed water; and with their right hands
raised above their heads they vowed that henceforth, at every act of
oppression in Mecca, they would stand together as one man on the side of
the oppressed against the oppressor until justice was done, whether the
oppressed were a man of Quraysh or one who had come from abroad. The
Sahmite was thereupon compelled to pay his debt, nor did any of those
clans which had abstained from the pact offer him their assistance.

Together with the chief of Taym, Zubayr of Hashim was one of the
founders of this order, and he brought with him his nephew Muhammad,
who took part in the oath and who said in after-years: "I was present in the
house of -*Abd Allah ibn Jud*an at so excellent a pact that I would not
exchange my part in it for a herd of red camels; and if now, in Islam, I were
summoned unto it, I would gladly respond,"^ Another of those present was
their host's first cousin, Abu Quhafah of Taym, together with his son Abu
Bakr, who was a year or two younger than Muhammad and who was to
become his closest friend.

XII

Questions of
Marriage

UHAMMAD had now passed his twentieth year, and as time

went on he received more and more invitations to join one or

JL V A another of his kinsmen on their travels abroad. Finally the day
came when he was asked to take charge of the goods of a merchant who
was unable to travel himself, and his success in this capacity led to other
similar engagements. He was thus able to earn a better livelihood, and
marriage became a possibility.

His uncle and guardian Abu Talib had at that time three sons: the eldest,
Talib, was about the same age as Muhammad himself; *Aqil was thirteen
or fourteen; and Ja'far was a boy of four. Muhammad was fond of
children and liked to play with thenfi; and he grew especially attached to
Ja*far who was a beautiful and intelligent child, and who responded to his
cousin's love with a devotion that proved to be lasting. Abii Talib also had
daughters, and one of these was already of marriageable age. Her name
was Fakhitah, but later she was called Umm Hani', and it is by that name
that she is always known. A great affection had grown up between her and
Muhammad, who now asked his uncle to let him marry her. But Abu Talib
had other plans for his daughter: his cousin Hubayrah, the son of his
mother's brother, of the clan of Makhzum, had likewise asked for the hand
of Umm Hani'; and Hubayrah was not only a man of some substance but
he was also, like Abu Talib himself, a gifted poet. Moreover the power of
Makhzum in Mecca was as much on the increase as that of Hashim was on
the wane; and it was to Hubayrah that Abu Talib married Umm Hani*.
When his nephew mildly reproached him, he simply replied: "They have
given us their daughters in marriage" - no doubt referring to his own
mother - "and a generous man must requite generosity,"' The answer was
unconvincing inasmuch as 'Abd al-Muttalib had already more than repaid
the debt in question by marrying two of his daughters, 'Atikah and Barrah,
to men of Makhzum. Muhammad no doubt took his uncle's words as a
courteous and kindly substitute for telling him plainly that he was not yet
in a position to marry. That, at any rate, is what he now decided for

' I.S. VIII, io8.

34 Muhammad

himself; but unexpected circumstances were soon to induce him to change
his mind.

One of the richer merchants of Mecca was a woman - KhadTjah,
daughter of KhuwayUd, of the clan of Asad, She was first cousin to
Waraqah, the Christian, and his sister Qutaylah, and like them she was a
distant cousin to the sons of Hashim. She had already been married twice,
and since the death of her second husband it had been her custom to hire
men to trade on her behalf. Now Muhammad had come to be known
throughout Mecca as al-AmIn, the Reliable, the Trustworthy, the Honest,
and this was initially owing to the reports of those who had entrusted their
merchandise to him on various occasions. Khadljah had also heard much
good of him from family sources; and one day she sent word to him, asking
him to take some of her merchandise to Syria. His fee would be the double
of the highest she had ever paid to a man of Quraysh; and she offered him,
for the journey, the services of a lad of hers named Maysarah, He accepted
what she proposed and accompanied by the lad he set off with her goods
for the north.

When they reached Bostra in the South of Syria, Muhammad took
shelter beneath the shadow of a tree not far from the cell of a monk named
Nestor. Since travellers' halts often remain unchanged, it could have been
the selfsame tree under which he had sheltered some fifteen years previous-
ly on his way through Bostra with his uncle. Perhaps Bahira had died and
been replaced by Nestor, However that may be — for we only know what
Maysarah reported - the monk came out of his cell and asked the lad:
"Who is the man beneath that tree?" "He is a man of Quraysh," said
Maysarah, adding by way of explanation: "of the people who have
guardianship of the Sanctuary." "None other than a Prophet is sitting
beneath that tree," said Nestor.^

As they went on further into Syria, the words of Nestor sank deep into
the soul of Maysarah, but they did not greatly surprise him, for he had
become aware throughout the journey that he was in the company of a
man unlike any other he had ever met. This was still further confirmed by
something he saw on his way home: he had often noticed that the heat was
strangely unoppressive, and one day towards noon it was given to him to
have a brief but clear vision of two Angels shading Muhammad from the
sun's rays.

On reaching Mecca they went to Khadijah's house with the goods they
had bought in the markets of Syria for the price of what they had sold.
Khadljah sat listening to Muhammad as he described the journey and told
her of the transactions he had made. These proved to be very profitable, for

' I.S. I/t, 83. According to Islamic tradition Muhammad is none other than the
mysterious Shiloh, to whom would be transferred, "in the latter days", the spiritual authority
which until then had remained the prerogative of the Jews, Jesus himself having been the last
Prophet of the line of Judah. The prophecy in question was made by Jacob immediately
before his death: And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that 1
may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days . . . The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the
gathering of the people be, (Genesis 49: i, to).

Questions of Marriage 3 5

she was able to sell her newly acquired assets for almost the double of what
had been paid for them. But such considerations were far from her
thoughts, for all her attention was concentrated on the speaker himself.
Muhammad was twenty-five years old. He was of medium stature,
inclined to slimness, with a large head, broad shoulders and the rest of his
body perfectly proportioned. His hair and beard were thick and black, not
altogether straight but slightly curled. His hair reached midway between
the lobes of his ears and his shoulders, and his beard was of a length to
match. He had a noble breadth of forehead and the ovals of his large eyes
were wide, with exceptionally long lashes and extensive brows, slightly
arched but not joined. In most of the earliest descriptions his eyes are said
to have been black, but according to one or two of these they were brown,
or even light brown. His nose was aquiline and his mouth was wide and
finely shaped - a comeliness always visible for although he let his beard
grow, he never allowed the hair of his moustache to protrude over his
upper lip. His skin was white, but tanned by the sun. In addition to his
natural beauty there was a light on his face - the same which had shone
from his father, but in the son it was more powerful - and this light was
especially apparent on his broad forehead, and in his eyes, which were
remarkably luminous. Khadijah knew that she herself was still beautiful,
but she was fifteen years his elder. Would he none the less be prepared to
marry her?

As soon as he had gone, she consulted a woman friend of hers named
Nufaysah, who offered to approach him on her behalf and, if possible, to
arrange a marriage between them. Maysarah now came to his mistress and
told her about the two Angels, and what the monk had said, whereupon
she went to her cousin Waraqah and repeated these things to him. "If this
be true, Khadijah," he said, "then is Muhammad the prophet of our
people. Long have I known that a prophet is to be expected, and his time
hath now come.'"

Meanwhile Nufaysah came to Muhiammad and asked him why he did
not marry. "I have not the means to marry," he answered. "But if thou
wert given the means," she said, "and if thou vvert bidden to an alliance
where there is beauty and property and nobility and abundance, wouldst
thou not consent?" "Who is she?" he said. "Khadijah," said Nufaysah.
"And how could such a marriage be mine?" he said. "Leave that to me!"
was her answer. "For my part," he said, "I am willing,"^ Nufaysah
returned with these tidings to Khadijah, who then sent word to Mu-
hammad asking him to come to her; and when he came she said to him:
"Son of mine uncle, I love thee for thy kinship with me, and for that thou
art ever in the centre, not being a partisan amongst the people for this or for
that; and I love thee for thy trustworthiness and for the beauty of thy
character and the truth of thy speech."^ Then she offered herself in
marriage to him, and they agreed that he should speak to his uncles and she
would speak to her uncle ' Amr, the son of Asad, for Khuwaylid her father
had died. It was Hamzah, despite his relative youth, whom the Hashimites
delegated to represent them on this occasion, no doubt because he was the

' U.iai. ' l.S. 1/1,84. ' U.izo.

36 Muhammad

most closely connected of them with the clan of Asad, for his full sister
Safiyyah had recently married Khadijah's brother 'Awwam. So Hamzah
went with his nephew to *Amr and asked for the hand of Khadijah; and it
was agreed between them that Muhammad^ should give her twenty
she-camels as dowry.

XIII

The Household

THE bridegroom left his uncle's house and went to live in the house
of his bride. As well as being a wife, Khadljah was also a friend to
her husband, the sharer of his inclinations and ideals to a remark-
able degree. Their marriage was wondrously blessed, and fraught with
great happiness, though not without sorrows of bereavement. She bore
him six children, two sons and four daughters. Their eldest child was a son
named Qasim, and Muhammad came to be known as Abu 1-Qasim, the
father of Qasim; but the boy died before his second birthday. The next
child was a daughter whom they named Zaynab; and she was followed by
three other daughters, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah, and
finally by another short-lived son.

On the day of his marriage, Muhammad set free Barakah, the faithful
slave he had inherited from his father; and on the same day Khadijah made
him a gift of one of her own slaves, a youth of fifteen named Zayd. As to
Barakah, they married her to a man of Yathrib to whom she bore a son,
after whom she came to be known as Umm Ayman, the mother of Ayman.
As to Zayd, he and some other youths had recently been bought at the
great fair of 'Ukaz by Khadijah's nephew Hakim, the son of her brother
Hizam; and the next time his aunt visited him Hakim had sent for his
newly acquired slaves and invited her to choose one of them for herself. It
was Zayd that she had chosen.

Zayd was proud of his ancestry: his father Harithah was of the great
northern tribe of Kalb whose territory lay on the plains between Syria and
Iraq: his mother was a woman of the no less illustrious neighbouring tribe
of Tayy, one of whose chieftains at that time was the poet-knight Hatim,
famous throughout Arabia for his chivalry and his fabulous generosity.
Several years had now passed since Zayd had been taken by his mother to
visit her family, and the village where they were staying had been raided by
some horsemen of the Bani Qayn, who had carried 3ie boy off and sold
him into slavery. Ijiarithah, his father, had searched for him in vain; nor
had Zayd seen any travellers from Kalb who could take a message from
him to his parents. But the Ka'bah drew pilgrims from all parts of Arabia,
and one day during the holy season, several months after he had become
Muhammad's slave, he saw some men and women of his own tribe and
clan in the streets of Mecca. If he had seen them the previous year, his
feelings would have been very different. He had yearned for such an
encounter; yet now that it had at last come it placed him in a quandary. He
could not deliberately leave his family in ignorance of his whereabouts. But

38 Muhammad

what message could he send them? Whatever its gist, he knew, as a son of
the desert, that nothing less than a poem would be adequate for such an
occasion. He composed some verses which expressed something of his
mind, but implied more than they expressed. Then he accosted the Kalbite
pilgrims and, having told them who he was, he said: "Speak unto my
family these lines, for well I know that they have sorrowed for me:

Though I myself be far, yet take my words

Unto my people: at the Holy House

I dwell, amidst the places God hath hallowed.

Set then aside the sorrows ye have grieved,

Weary not camels, scouring the earth for me,

For I, praise be to God, am in the best

Of noble families, great in all its line."

When the pilgrims returned home with their tidings, Harithah at once set
off for Mecca with his brother, Ka *b; and going to Muhammad they
begged him to allow them to ransom Zayd, for as high a price as he might
ask. "Let him choose," said Muhammad, "and if he choose you, he is
yours without ransom; and if he choose me, I am not the man to set any
other above him who chooseth me." Then he called Zayd and asked him if
he knew the two men. "This is my father," said the youth, "and this is mine
uncle." "Me thou knowest," said Muhammad, "and thou hast seen my
companionship unto thee, so choose thou between me and them." But
Zayd's choice was already made and he said at once: "I would not choose
any man in preference to thee. Thou art unto me as my father and mv
mother." "Out upon thee, O Zayd!" exclaimed the men of Kalb. "Wilt
thou choose slavery above freedom, and above thy father and thine uncle
and thy family.'^" "It is even so," said Zayd, "for I have seen from this man
such things that 1 could never choose another above him."

All further talk was cut short by Muhammad, who now bade them come
with him to the Ka'bah; and, standing in the Hijr, he said in a loud voice:
"All ye who are present, bear witness that Zayd is my son; I am his heir and
he is mine."'

The father and the uncle had thus to return with their purpose un-
achieved. But the tale they had to tell their tribe, of the deep mutual love
which had brought about this adoption, was not an inglorious one; and
when they saw that Zayd was free, and established in honour, with what
promised to be a high standing amongst the people of the Sanctuary such
as might benefit his brothers and other kinsmen in years to come, they were
reconciled and went their way without bitterness. From that day the new
Hashimite was known in Mecca as Zayd ibn Muhammad.

Among the most frequent visitors to the house was Safiyyah, now
Khadijah's sister-in-law, the youngest of Muhammad's aunts, younger
even than himself; and with her she would bring her little son Zubayr,
whom she had named after her elder brother. Zubayr was thus well
acquainted with his cousins, the daughters of Muhammad, from his
earliest years. With Safiyyah came also her faithful retainer Salma, who

' I.S. III/i, 28.

The Household 39

had delivered Khadijah of all her children, and who considered herself to
be one of the household.

As the years passed there were occasional visits from Halimah, Mu-
hammad's foster-mother, and Khadijah was always generous to her. One
of these visits was at a time of severe and widespread drought through
which Halimah's flocks had been seriously depleted, and Khadijah made
her a gift of forty sheep and a howdah camel. ^ This same drought, which
produced something like a famine in the Hijaz, was the cause of a very
important addition to the household.

Abu Talib had more children than he could easily support, and the
famine weighed heavily upon him. Mutiammad noticed this and felt that
something should be done. The wealthiest of his uncles was Abu Lahab but
he was somewhat remote from the rest of the family, partly no doubt
because he had never had any full brothers or sisters amongst them, being
the only child of his mother. Muhammad preferred to ask for the help of
'Abbas, who could well afford it, being a successful merchant, and who
was close to him because they had been brought up together. Equally close,
or even closer, was 'Abbas's wife, Umm al-Fadl, who loved him dearly and
who always made him welcome at their house. So he went to them now,
and suggested that each of their two households should take charge of one
of Abu Talib*s sons until his circumstances improved. They readily agreed,
and the two men went to Abu Talib, who said when he heard their
proposal: "Do what ye will, but leave me 'Aqil and Talib." Ja'far was now
about fifteen, and he was no longer the youngest of the family. His mother
Fatimah had borne yet another son to Abu Talib, some ten years younger,
and they had named him 'All. 'Abbas said he would take charge of Ja'far,
whereupon Muhammad agreed to do the same for 'Ali. It was about this
time that Khadijah had borne her last child, a son named 'Abd Allah, but
the babe had died at an even earlier age than Qasim. In a sense he was
replaced by 'All, who was brought up as a brother to his four girl cousins,
being about the same age as Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthiim, somewhat
younger than Zaynab and somewhat older than Fatimah. These five,
together with Zayd, formed the immediate family of Muhammad and
Khadijah. But there were many other relatives for whom he felt a deep
attachment, and who have a part to play, large or small, in the history
which here is chronicled.

Muhammad's eldest uncle, Harith, who was now dead, had left many
children, and one of the sons, his cousin Abu Sufyan, was also his
foster-brother, having been nursed by Halimah amongst the Bani Sa'd a
few years after himself. People would say that Abu Sufyan was of those
who bore the closest family likeness to Muhammad; and amongst the
characteristics they had in common was eloquence. But Abu Sufyan was a
gifted poet - perhaps more gifted than his uncles Zubayr and Abu Talib -
whereas Muhammad had never shown any inclination to compose a
poem, though he was unsurpassed in his mastery of Arabic, and in the
beauty of his speech.

In Abu Sufyan, who was more or less his own age, he had something of a
friend and a companion. A little closer by blood kinship were the numer-

• I.S. 1/1,71.

40 Muhammad

ous children of his father's full sisters, that is, of *Abd al-Muttalib's five
eldest daughters. Amongst the eldest of these cousins were the children of
his aunt Umaymah who had married a man named Jahsh, of the North
Arabian tribe of Asad,* He had a house in Mecca, and it was possible for a
man who lived amongst a tribe other than his own to become, by mutual
alliance, the confederate of a member of that tribe, into which he thus
became partly integrated, sharing up to a point its responsibilities and its
privileges. Harb, now chief of the Umayyad^ branch of the clan of 'Abdu
Shams, had made Jahsh his confederate, so that by marrying him
Umaymah could almost be said to have married a Shamsite, Their eldest
son, named after her brother 'Abd Allah, was some twelve years younger
than Muhammad, and the two cousins had a great affection for each other.
Umaymah's daughter Zaynab, several years younger than her brother, a
girl of outstanding beauty, was included in this bond. Muhammad had
known and loved them both from their earliest childhood; and the same
was true of others, in particular of Abu Salamah, the son of his aunt
Barrah.

The powerful attraction which centred on al-Amin - as he was so often
called - went far beyond his own family; and Khadijah was with him at
that centre, loved and honoured by all who came within the wide circle of
their radiance, a circle which also included many of her own relations.
Particularly close to her was her sister Halah whose son, Abu l-'As, was a
frequent visitor to the house. Khadijah loved this nephew as if he had been
her own son; and in due course - for she was continually sought after for
help and advice - Halah asked her to find a wife for him. When Khadijah
consulted her husband, he suggested their daughter Zaynab, who would
soon be of marriageable age; and when the time came they were married.

The hopes of Hashim and Muttalib - the two clans counted politically
as one - were set upon Muhammad for the recovery of their waning
influence. But beyond all question of clan, he had come to be considered
by the chiefs of Quraysh as one of the most capable men of the generation
which would succeed them and which would have, after them, the task of
maintaining the honour and the power of the tribe throughout Arabia. The
praise of al-Amin was continually upon men's lips; and it was perhaps
because of this that Abu Lahab now came to his nephew with the proposal
that Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum should be betrothed to his sons 'Utbah
and 'Utaybah. Muhammad agreed, for he thought well of these two
cousins, and the betrothals took place.

It was about this time that Umm Ayman became once more a member of
the household. It is not recorded whether she returned as a widow, or
whether her husband had divorced her. But she had no doubt that her place
was there, and for his part Muhammad would sometimes address her as
"mother", and would say of her to others: "She is all that is left me of the
people of my house.

* Asad ibn Khuzaymah, a tribe to the north-east of Mecca, whose territory lay at the
northern extremity of the plain of Najd. It is not to be confused with the Quraysh clan of
Asad.

^ Named after Harb's father Umayyah, son of 'Abdu Shams.
' LS. VIII, 162.'

XIV

The Rebuilding of
the Ka' bah

SOMEWHAT before these last-mentioned happenings, about the
time when 'All was taken into the household, when Muhammad was
thirty-five years old, Quraysh decided to rebuild the Ka*bah. As it
then stood the walls were just above the height of a man, and there was no
roof, which meant that even when the door was locked access was easy;
and recently there had been a theft of some of its treasure which was
stowed in a vault that had been dug inside the building for that purpose.
They already had all the wood that was needed for the roof: the ship of a
Greek merchant had been driven ashore and wrecked beyond repair at
Jeddah, so they had taken its timbers to serve as rafters; and there
happened to be in Mecca at that time a Copt who was a skilled carpenter.

But such was their awe of the Ka'bah that they hesitated to lay hands on
it. Their plan was to demolish its walls which were built of loose stones and
to rebuild it altogether; but they were afraid of incurring the guilt of
sacrilege, and their hesitation was greatly increased by the appearance of a
large snake which had taken to coming every day out of the vault to sun
itself against a wall of the Ka*bah. If anyone approached, it would rear its
head and hiss with gaping jaws, and they were terrified of it. But one day,
while it was sunning itself, God sent against it an eagle, which seized it and
flew away with it. So Quraysh said among themselves: "Now we may
indeed hope that God is pleased with our intent. We have a craftsman
whose heart is with us, and we have wood; and God hath rid us of the
serpent."

The first man to lift a stone from the top of one of the walls was the
Makhzumite Abu Wahb, the brother of Fatimah, Muhammad's grand-
mother; but no sooner had it been lifted than the stone leapt from his hand
and returned to its place, whereupon they all drew back from the Ka'bah,
afraid to proceed with the work. Then the chief of Makhzum, Walid the
son of the now dead Mughirah, took up a pickaxe and said: "I will begin
the razing for you"; and going to the Ka*bah he said: "O God, fear not, O
God, we intend nought but good." Thereupon he knocked down part of
the wall between the Black Stone and the Yemenite Corner, that is, the
south-easterly wall; but the rest of the people held back. "Let us wait and
see," they said. "If he be smitten we will raze no more of it, but restore it

42. Muhammad

even as it was; but if he be not smitten, then is God pleased with our work,
and we will raze it all to the ground." The night passed without mishap and
Walid was again at work early next morning, so the others joined him; and
when the walls were all down as far as the foundation of Abraham they
came upon large greenish cobble-stones like the humps of camels placed
side by side. A man put a crowbar between two of these stones to lever one
of them out; but at the first movement of the stone a quaking shudder ran
through the whole of Mecca, and they took it as a sign that they must leave
that foundation undisturbed.

Inside the Corner of the Black Stone they had found a piece of writing in
Syriac. They kept it, not knowing what it was, until one of the Jews read it
to them: "I arri God, the Lord of Becca. I created her the day I created the
heavens and the earth, the day I formed the sun and the moon, and I placed
round about her seven inviolable angels. She shall stand so long as her two
hills stand, blessed for her people with milk and water." Another piece of
writing was found beneath the Station of Abraham, a small rock near the
door of the Ka'bah which bears the miraculous print of his foot: "Mecca is
the holy house of God. Her sustenance cometh unto her from three
directions. Let not her people be the first to profane her,"

Quraysh now gathered more stones, in addition to those they already
had, so as to increase the height of the building. They worked separately,
clan by clan, until the walls were high enough for the Black Stone to be
built once more into its corner. Then a violent disagreement broke out
amongst them, for each clan wanted the honour of lifting it into its place.
The deadlock lasted for four or five days and the tension had increased to
the point of alliances being made and preparations for battle begun, when
the oldest man present proposed a solution. "O men of Quraysh," he said,
"take as arbiter between you, about that wherein ye differ, the first man
who shall enter in through the gate of this Mosque."^ The precinct round
the Ka'bah was called a mosque, in Arabic masjid, a place of prostration,
because the rite of prostrating oneself to God in the direction of the Holy
House had been performed there since the time of Abraham and Ishmael.
They agreed to follow the old man's counsel; and the first man to enter the
Mosque was Muhammad, who had just returned to Mecca after an
absence. The sight of him produced an immediate and spontaneous
recognition that here was the right person for the task, and his arrival was
greeted by exclamations and murmurs of satisfaction. "It is al-Amin," said
some. "We accept his judgement," said others, "it is Muhammad." When
they explained the matter to him, he said: "Bring me a cloak." And when
they brought it, he spread it on the ground, and taking up the Black Stone
he laid it on the middle of the garment. "Let each clan take hold of the
border of the cloak," he said. "Then lift it up, all of you together," And
when they had raised it to the right height he took the stone and placed it in
the corner with his own hands; and the building was continued and
completed above it.

1 U.125.

The First
Revelations

IT was not long after this outward sign of his authority and his mission
that he began to experience powerful inward signs, in addition to those
of which he had already been conscious. When asked about these he
spoke of "true visions" which came to him in his sleep and he said that they
were "like the breaking of the light of dawn."' The immediate result of
these visions was that solitude became dear to him, and he would go for
spiritual retreats to a cave in Mount Hira' not far from the outskirts of
Mecca. There was nothing in this that would have struck Quraysh as
particularly strange, for retreat had been a traditional practice amongst the
descendants of Ishmael, and in each generation there had been one or two
who would withdraw to a solitary place from time to time so that they
might have a period that was uncontaminated by the world of men. In
accordance with this age-old practice, Muhammad would take with him
provisions and consecrate a certain number of nights to the worship of
God. Then he would return to his family, and sometimes on his return he
took more provisions and went again to the mountain. During these few
years it often happened that after he had left the town and was
approaching his hermitage he would hear clearly the words "Peace be on
thee, O Messenger of God",^ and he would turn and look for the speaker
but no one was in sight, and it was as if the words had come from a tree or a
stone.

Ramadan was the traditional month of retreat, and it was one night
towards the end of Ramadan, in his fortieth year, when he was alone in the
cave, that there came to him an Angel in the form of a man. The Angel said
to him: "Recite!" and he said; "I am not a reciter," whereupon, as he
himself told it, "the Angel took me and whelmed me in his embrace until he
had reached the limit of mine endurance. Then he released me and said:
*Recite!' I said: *I am not a reciter,' and again he took me and whelmed
me in his embrace, and again when he had reached the limit of mine en-
durance he released me and said: 'Recite!', and again I said *I am not a
reciter.' Then a third time he whelmed me as before, then released me and
said:

' B.1,3. ' U.isi.

44 Muhammad

Recite in the name of thy Lord who created!
He createth man from a clot of blood.
Recite; and thy Lord is the Most Bountiful,
He who hath taught by the pen,
taugh t man what he knew not.^"^

He recited these words after the Angel, who thereupon left him; and he
said; "It was as though the words were written on my heart. But he
feared that this might mean he had become a jinn-inspired poet or a man
possessed. So he fled from the cave, and when he was half-way down the
slope of the mountain he heard a voice above him saying: "O Muhammad,
thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel." He raised his eyes
heavenwards and there was his visitant, still recognisable but now clearly
an Angel, filling the whole horizon, and again he said: "O Muhammad,
thou art the Messenger of God, and 1 am Gabriel." The Prophet stood
gazing at the Angel; then he turned away from him, but whichever way he
looked the Angel was always there, astride the horizon, whether it was to
the north, to the south, to the east or to the west» Finally the Angel turned
away, and the Prophet descended the slope and went to his house. "Cover
me! Cover me!"" he said to Khadijah as with still quaking heart he laid
himself on his couch. Alarmed, yet not daring to question him, she quickly
brought a cloak and spread it over him. But when the intensity of his awe
had abated he told her what he had seen and heard; and having spoken to
him words of reassurance she went to tell her cousin Waraqah, who was
now an old man, and bHnd. "Holy! Holy!", he said. "By Him in whose
hand is the soul of Waraqah, there hath come unto Muhammad the
greatest Namus,^ even he that would come unto Moses. Verily Mu-
hammad is the Prophet of this people. Bid him rest assured." So Khadijah
went home and repeated these words to the Prophet, who now returned in
peace of mind to the cave, that he might fulfil the number of days he had
dedicated to God for his retreat. When this was completed, he went
straight to the Ka*bah, according to his wont, and performed the rite of the
rounds, after which he greeted the old and the blind Waraqah whom he
had noticed amongst those who were sitting in the Mosque; and Waraqah
said to him: "Tell me, O son of my brother, what thou hast seen and
heard." The Prophet told him, and the old man said again what he had said
to Khadijah. But this time he added: "Thou wilt be called a liar, and
ill-treated, and they will cast thee out and make war upon thee; and if 1 live
to see that day, God knoweth I will help His cause."^ Then he leaned
towards him and kissed his forehead, and the Prophet returned to his
home.

The reassurances of Khadijah and Waraqah were followed by a reassur-
ance from Heaven in the form of a second Revelation. The manner of its
coming is not recorded, but when asked how Revelation came to him the
Prophet mentioned two ways: "Sometimes it cometh unto me like the

> K.XCVI, 1-5. ' B.I, 3. ' I.I.I53- ' B.I, 3.

^ The Greek Nomos, in the sense of Divine Law or Scripture, here identified with the
Angel of ReveJation,
' U. 153-4.

The First Revelations 4 5

reverberations of a bell, and that is the hardest upon me; the reverberations
abate v^^hen I am avs^are of their message. And sometimes the Angel taketh
the form of a man and speaketh unto me, and I am aware of what he
saith."^

The Revelation, this second time, began with a single letter, the earliest
instance of those cryptic letters with which several of the Koranic messages
begin. The letter was followed by a Divine oath, sworn by the pen which
had already been mentioned in the first Revelation as the primary means of
God's teaching men His wisdom. When questioned about the pen, the
Prophet said: *'The first thing God created was the pen. He created the
tablet and said to the pen: "Write!" And the pen answered: "What shall I
write?" He said: "Write My knowledge of My creation till the day of
resurrection." Then the pen traced what had been ordained."- The oath
by the pen is followed by a second oath, by that which they write;
and amongst what they, that is the Angels, write in Heaven with lesser
pens on lesser tablets is the Koran's celestial archetype, which subsequent
Revelations refer to as a glorious recitation (qur'dn) ^ on an inviolable
tablet^ and as the mother of the bookJ The two oaths are followed by
the Divine reassurance:

NUn, By the pen, and by that which they write, no madman art thou,
through the grace of thy Lord unto thee, and thine shall be a meed
unfailing, and verily of an immense magnitude is thy nature.^

After the first Messages had come there was a period of silence, until the
Prophet began to fear that he had incurred in some way the displeasure of
Heaven, though Khadijah continually told him that this was not possible.
Then at last the silence was broken, and there came a further reassurance,
and with it the first command directly related to his mission:

By the morning brightness, and by the night when it is still, thy Lord
hath not forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee, and the last shall be better
for thee than the first, and thy Lord shall give and give unto thee, and
thou shalt be satisfied. Hath He not found thee an orphan and sheltered
thee, and found thee astray and guided thee, and found thee needy and
enriched thee? So for the orphan, oppress him not, and for the beggar,
repel him not, and for the bountiful grace of thy Lord, proclaim it!'

' B. I, 3. ' Tir.44.

^ It is £roin this that the Divine Revelation on which Islam is based takes its name.
* LXXXV, 2i-2. ' XIII, 39. « LXVIII,i-4. ' XCIII.

XVI

Worship

IN accordance with these last two words he now began to speak about
the Angel and the Revelations to those who, after his wife, were the
nearest and dearest to him. As yet he had no demands to make upon
them, except that they should not divulge his secret. But this situation did
not last long: Gabriel came to him one day on the high ground above
Mecca, and struck with his heel the turf of the hillside, whereupon a spring
gushed forth from it. Then he performed the ritual ablution to show the
Prophet how to purify himself for worship, and the Prophet followed his
example. Then he showed him the postures and movements of the prayer,
the standing, the inclining, the prostrating and the sitting, with the
repeated magnification, that is, the words Alldhu Akbar^ God is Most
Great, and the final greeting as-Saldmu 'alaykum, Peace be on you, and
again the Prophet followed his example. Then the Angel left him, and the
Prophet returned to his house, and taught Khadijah all that he had learnt,
and they prayed together.

The religion was now established on the basis of the ritual purification
and prayer; and after Khadijah the first to embrace it were 'All and Zayd
and the Prophet's friend Abu Bakr of the clan of Taym. 'All was only ten
years old, and Zayd had as yet no influence in Mecca, but Abu Bakr was
liked and respected, for he was a man of wide knowledge, easy manners
and an agreeable presence. Many would come to consult him about this or
that, and he now began to confide in all those whom he felt he could trust,
urging them to follow the Prophet. Many responses took place through
him; and two of the earliest to respond to the call were a man of Zuhrah,
'Abdu 'Amr, the son of 'Awf, a distant kinsman of the Prophet's mother,
and Abu 'Ubaydah the son of al-Jarrah of the Bani 1-Harith.^

In connection with the first of these, *Abdu *Amr, a precedent of
importance was established. Amongst the most striking features of the
Revelation were the two Divine Names ar-Rahmdn and ar-Rahim, The
word rahtm, an intensive form of rdhini, merciful, was current in the sense
of very merciful or boundlessly merciful. The still more intensive rahmdn,
for lack of any concept to fit it, had fallen into disuse. The Revelation
revived it in accordance with the new religion's basic need to dwell on the
heights of Transcendence. Being stronger even than ar-Rahim (the All-
Merciful), the Name ar-Rahmdn refers to the very essence or root of
Mercy, that is, to the Infinite Beneficence or Goodness of God, and the

See genealogical tree, p. 347.

Worship 47

Koran expressly makes it an equivalent of Allah: Invoke God (Allah) or
invoke the Infinitely Good (ar-Rahmdn), whichever ye invoke, His are the
names most Beautiful} This Name of Goodness was very dear to the
Prophet, and since the name 'Abdu 'Amr, the slave of 'Amr, was too pagan,
he changed the new believer's name to 'Abd ar-Rahman, the slave of the
Infinitely Good. Nor was the son of 'Awf the only man whose name he
changed to 'Abd ar-Rahman.

Some of the earliest responses were promoted initially by motives which
could not be ascribed to any human attempt to persuade. Abu Bakr had
long been known throughout Mecca for his ability to interpret dreams;
and one morning he had an unexpected visit from Khalid, the son of a
powerful Shamsite, Sa'id ibn al-'As. The young man's face still showed
signs of having been recently a^ast at some terrifying experience; and he
hastened to explain that during the night he had had a dream which he
knew must be significant though what it meant he did not understand.
Could Abu Bakr tell him the meaning of it? He had dreamed that he was
standing at the edge of a great pit in which was a raging fire so vast that he
could see no end to it. Then his father came, and tried to push him into it;
and as they were struggling on the brink, at the moment of his greatest
terror, he felt round his waist the firm clasp of two hands which held him
back despite all his father's efforts. Looking round, he saw that his saviour
was al-Amin, Muhammad the son of *Abd Allah, and at that moment he
awoke. "1 wish thee joy," said Abu Bakr. "This man who saved thee is the
Messenger of God, so follow him — nay, follow him thou shalt, and shalt
enter through him into Islam which shall safeguard thee against falling into
the fire." Khalid went straight to the Prophet, and having told him of his
dream he asked him what his message was, and what he should do. The
Prophet instructed him, and Khalid entered Islam, keeping it a secret from
his family. ^

It was about the same time that another man of *Abdu Shams, a
merchant on his way home from Syria, was awoken one night by a voice
crying in the desert: "Sleepers, awake, for verily Ahmad hath come forth in
Mecca."^ The merchant was 'Uthman, son of the Umayyad 'Affan, and
grandson, through his mother, of one of 'Abd al-Muttalib's daughters,
Umm Hakim al-Bayda', the Prophet's aunt. The words sank into his heart,
though he did not understand what was meant by "coming forth", nor did
he recognise that the superlative Ahmad "most glorified" stood for
Muhammad, "glorified". But before reaching Mecca he was overtaken by
a man of Taym named Talhah, a cousin of Abii Bakr; and Talhah had
passed through Bostra, where he had been asked by a monk if Ahmad had
yet appeared amongst the people of the Sanctuary. "Who is Ahmad?" said
Talhah. "The son of 'Abd al-Muttalib's son 'Abd Allah," answered the
monk. "This is his month, in which he shall come forth; and he is the last of
the Prophets." Talhah repeated these words to 'Uthman, who told him of
his own experience, and on their return Talhah suggested that they should

' XVII, no. In what follows, the Names of Merqr will sometimes be rendered "the
Good, the Merciful" for sake of having a single word as in Arabic, and relying on the definite
article to denote the Absolute. The same practice is also followed with other Divine Names.

2 I.S.IV/i,68. ' I.S.III/i,37.

48 Muhammad

go to his cousin Abu Bakr, who was known to be the closest friend of the
man now uppermost in their minds. So they went to Abu Bakr, and when
they told him what they had heard he took them at once to the Prophet so
that they could repeat to him the words of the monk and the words of the
desert voice. Having done this, they made their professions of faith.

A fourth conversion, no less remarkable than these in the way it took
place, was that of *Abd Allah ibn Mas*ud, a young confederate of Zuhrah.
Telling of it himself, he said: '*! was at that time a youth just grown into
manhood, and I was pasturing the flocks of 'Uqbah ibn Abl Mu*ayt, when
one day the Prophet and Abii Bakr passed by. The Prophet asked me if I
had any milk to give them to drink. I replied that the flocks were not mine
but entrusted to my care and I could not give them to drink. The Prophet
said: 'Hast thou a young ewe that no ram hath ever leaped?' I said I had,
and brought her to them. Having tethered her, the Prophet put his hand to
her udder and prayed, whereupon the udder swelled with milk, and Abu
Bakr brought a boulder which was hollowed like a cup. The Prophet
milked her into it, and we all drank. Then he said to the udder: *Dry,* and it
dried.'" A few days later ' Abd Allah went to the Prophet and entered Islam.
Nor was it long before he had learned from him seventy surahs^ by heart,
being exceptionally gifted in that way; and he soon became one of the best
and most authoritative reciters of the Koran.

The Prophet had been distressed by the period of silence from Heaven; yet
his soul still shrank from receiving the tremendous impact of the Divine
Word, which itself affirmed in a not yet revealed verse: IfWe sent down
this Koran upon a mountain, thou wouldst see it prostrate in humility, rent
asunder through fear of God. ^ The impulse which had prompted him to cry
out "cover me, cover me" still came to him at times; and one night when he
was lying wrapped in his cloak there broke in upon his seclusion a Divine
Command more stern and urgent than any he had yet received, bidding
him warn men of the Day of Judgement: O thou who art wrapped in thy
cloak, arise and warn! Thy Lord magnify! Thy raiment purify! Defilement
shun! . . . For when the trumpet shall be blown, that shall be a day of
anguish, not of ease, for disbelievers^ Another night soon after this, he
was aroused by further commands telling him of the intensity of wor-
ship expected from him and his followers, and fully confirming his
apprehensions of a great burden of responsibiUty that was to be laid upon
him: O thou who art wrapped in thy raiment, keep vigil all the night save a
little, half the night or lessen than half a little, or add to it, and with care
and clarity chant the Koran. Verily We shall load thee with a word of
heavy weight.^ In the same passage was also the command: And invoke
in remembrance the name o f thy Lord, and devote thyself unto Him with
an utter devotion. Lord of the east and of the west - no god but He. Him

' l.S. Ill/i, 107.

^ The Koran consists of 1 14 surahs, of unequal length. The longest surah has 285 verses,
the shortest only three.

3 LIX, 21. The sudden change from first to third person Wc . . . God, is frequent in the
Koran.

^ LXXIV,i-io. ' LXXIII,i-5.

Worship 49

therefore take, on Him place thy reliance! ^ There came also other Revela-
tions, more gentle in tone, which confirmed and increased the reassurances
already given to the Prophet; and on one occasion, visible to him alone, as
was normally the case, the Angel said to him: "Give unto Khadijah
greetings of Peace from her Lord." So he said to her: "O Khadijah, here is
Gabriel who greeteth thee with Peace from thy Lord." And when Khadijah
could find words to speak, she answered; "God is Peace, and from Him is
Peace, and on Gabriel be Peace

The first adherents of the new religion took the commands addressed to
the Prophet as applying to themselves, so like him they would keep long
vigils. As to the ritual prayer, they were now careful not only to perform
the ablution in preparation for it but also to make sure that their garments
were free from all defilement; and they were quick to learn by heart all that
had been revealed of the Koran, so that they might chant it as part of their
worship. The Revelations now began to come more copiously. They were
immediately transmitted by the Prophet to those who were with him, then
passed from mouth to mouth, memorised and recited — a long and rapidly
increasing litany which told of the ephemeral nature of all earthly things,
of death and of the certainty of the Resurrection and the Last Judgement,
followed by Hell or Paradise. But above all it told of the Glory of God, of
His Indivisible Oneness, his Truth, Wisdom, Goodness, Mercy, Bounty
and Power; and by extension it continually referred to His Signs, the
marvels of nature, and to their harmonious working together which
testified so eloquently to the Oneness of their Sole Originator. Harmony is
the imprint of Oneness upon multiplicity, and the Koran draws attention
to that harmony as a theme for man's meditation.

When uninhibited by the presence of hostile disbelievers, the believers
greeted each other with the words given to the Prophet by Gabriel as the
greeting of the people of Paradise, "Peace be on you !", to which the answer
is "And on you be Peace!", the plural being used to include the two
guardian Angels of the person greeted. The revealed verses of consecration
and of thanksgiving also played an increasingly significant part in their
hves and their outlook. The Koran insists on the need for gratitude, and the
sacrament of thanksgiving is to say Praise be to God the Lord of the
worlds, whereas that of consecration or dedication is to say In the Name of
God, the Infinitely Good, the All-Merciful, This was the first verse of every
surah^ of the Koran, and following the example of the Prophet they used it
to inaugurate every Koranic recital, and by extension every other rite, and
by further extension every act or initiative. The new religion admitted of
nothing profane.

' LXXIIl,8-9. ' I.R156.

' Only one surah , IX (see p. 323) begins without the mention of the Names of Mercy,
but that had not yet been revealed.

XVII

"Warn Thy Family"

'O summons to Islam had yet been made in public, but there was an

ever-increasing group of devout believers and intense worship-
JL ^ pers, both men and women, most of them young. Amongst the
first to come, apart from those already mentioned, were the Prophet's
cousins Ja'far and Zubayr; then came other cousins, his and theirs, the
sons of their aunt Umaymah, *Abd Allah ibn Jahsh and his brother 'Ubayd
Allah, and the son of their aunt Barrah, Abu Salamah. There were also two
cousins on his mother*s side, Sa*d the son of Abu Waqqas of Zuhrah and
his younger brother *Umayr. But not one of the Prophet's four uncles
showed any inclination to follow him: Abu Talib made no objection to the
Islam of his two sons Ja*far and *Ali, but for himself he said he was not
prepared to forsake the religion of his forefathers; * Abbas was evasive and
Hamzah uncomprehending, though both assured him of their unfailing
affection for him personally; but Abu Lahab showed plainly his conviction
that his nephew was self-deceived, if not a deceiver.

After the revelation of the verse Warn thy family who are thy nearest of
kin^ the Prophet called *Ali to him, and said: "God hath commanded me to
warn my family, my nearest of kin, and the task is beyond my strength. But
make ready food, with a leg of mutton, and fill a cup with milk, and
assemble together the Bani *Abd al-Muttalib, that I may tell them that
which I have been commanded to say." * All did exactly as he had been told,
neither more nor less, and most of the clan of Hashim came to the meal,
about forty men. '*When they were assembled," said 'Ali, "the Prophet
told me to bring in the food which I had made ready. Then he took a piece
of meat, bit upon it, and cast it again into the dish, saying: Take it in the
Name of God.' The men ate in relays, several at a time, until not one of
them could eat any more. But," said *Ali, "I could see no change in the
food, except that it had been stirred by men's hands; and by my life, if they
had been but one man, he could have eaten all that I had put before them.
Then the Prophet said: 'Give them to drink', so I brought the cup, and each
drank his fill, though one man alone could have emptied that cup. But
when the Prophet was about to address them, Abu Lahab forestalled him
and said: *Your host hath placed a spell upon you' whereat they dispersed
before he could speak."

The next day the Prophet told *AlI to do exactly as he had done the
previous day. So another similar meal was prepared and everything went
as before, except that this time the Prophet was on his guard and made sure

' XXVI, 214.

"Warn Thy Family" 5 1

of addressing them. "O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib," he said, "I know of no
Arab who hath come to his people with a nobler message than mine. I bring
you the best of this world and the next. God hath commanded me to call
you unto Him. Which of you, then, will help me in this, and be my brother,
mine executor and my successor amongst you?" There was silence
throughout the clan. Ja'far and Zayd could both have spoken, but they
knew that their Islam was not in question and that the purpose of the
gathering was to bring in others than themselves. But when the silence
remained unbroken, the thirteen-year-old 'All felt impelled to speak, and
said: "O Prophet of God, I will be thy helper in this." The Prophet laid his
hand on the back of ^AlT's neck and said: "This is my brother, mine
executor and my successor amongst you. Hearken unto him, and obey
him." The men rose to their feet, laughing and saying to Abu Talib: "He
hath ordered thee to hearken unto thy son and to obey him."^

As to the Prophet's aunts, Safiyyah had no hesitation in following him as
her son Zubayr had done, but her five sisters could not bring themselves to
make any decision. Arwa's attitude was typical of them all: "I am waiting
to see what my sisters will do," she would say. On the other hand, his aunt
by marriage, Umm al-Fadl, the wife of the hesitant 'Abbas, was the first
woman to enter Islam after Khadijah; and she was soon able to bring three
of her sisters to the Prophet - Maymunah, her full sister, and two
half-sisters, Salma and Asma\ It was in the household of Umm al-Fadl
that Ja'far had been brought up, and it was there that he had come to know
and to love Asma*, whom he had recently married; and Hamzah had
married her sister Salma. Another of the first to respond was Umm Ayman.
The Prophet said of her: "He that would marry a woman of the people of
Paradise, let him marry Umm Ayman"^and this remark was overheard by
Zayd, who took it deeply to heart. She was much older than he was, but
that did not deter him, and he spoke his mind to the Prophet, who had no
difficulty in persuading Umm Ayman to agree to the marriage. She bore
Zayd a son whom they named Usamah, and he was brought up as the
grandson of the Prophet, who dearly loved him.

' Tab. 1 171. ^ I.S.Vm,i6z.

XVIII

Quraysh Take
Action

IN these early days of Islam the Companions of the Prophet would often
go out together in groups to the glens outside Mecca where they could
pray the ritual prayer together without being seen. But one day a
number of idolaters came upon them while they were praying and rudely
interrupted them with ridicule. Finally they came to blows, and Sa'd of
Zuhrah struck one of the disbelievers with the jawbone of a camel and
wounded him. This was the first blood shed in Islam. But after that they
decided to refrain from violence until God should decide otherwise, for the
Revelation continually enjoined patience upon the Prophet and therefore
upon them. Bear with patience what they say, and part from them with a
courteous farewell,^ and also Deal gently with the disbelievers, give them
respite for a whiler

This case of violence had been something of an exception on both sides,
for Quraysh as a whole were disposed to tolerate the new religion, even
after the Prophet had openly proclaimed it, until they saw that it was
directed against their gods, their principles and their inveterate practices.
Once they had realised this, however, some of their leading men went in a
body to Abu Talib, to insist that he should restrain his nephew's activities.
He put them off with a conciliatory answer; but when they saw that he had
done nothing they came to him again and said: "O Abu Talib, thine is a
high and honourable position amongst us, and we have asked thee to hold
in check thy brother's son, but thou hast not done so. By God, we will not
suffer our fathers to be insulted, our ways scoffed at, and our gods reviled.
Either make him desist, or we will fight you both." Then they left him, and
in great distress he sent for his nephew, and having told him what they had
threatened, he said: "O son of my brother, spare me and spare thyself. Lay
not upon me a burden greater than I can bear." But the Prophet answered
him saying: "I swear by God, if they put the sun in my right hand and the
moon in my left on condition that I abandon this course before He hath
made it victorious, or I have perished therein, I would not abandon it."'
Then, with tears in his eyes, he rose to his feet and turned to go, but his
uncle called him back: "Son of my brother," he said, "go thou and say
what thou wih, for by God I will never forsake thee on any account."

» LXXllI,io. ^ LXXVI,i7. ' 1.1. i68.

Quraysh Take Action 5 3

When they found that their words had achieved nothing with Abu TaUb,
Quraysh still hesitated to attack his nephew directly, for, as a chief of clan,
Abu Talib had power to grant inviolate protection, and it was in the
interests of every other chief of clan in Mecca to see that the rights of
chieftaincy were duly respected. So they confined themselves for the
moment to organising a widespread persecution of all those adherents of
the new religion who had no one to protea them.

Meantime they consulted together in an attempt to form a common
policy about the cause of their trouble. The situation was exceedingly
grave: the time of the Pilgrimage would soon be upon them and Arabs
would come to Mecca from all over Arabia. They, Quraysh, had a high
reputation for hospitality, not only as regards food and drink but also
because they made every man welcome, both him and his gods. But this
year pilgrims would hear their gods insulted by Muhammad and his
followers, and they would be urged to forsake the religion of their
forefathers and to adopt a new religion which appeared to have numerous
disadvantages. No doubt many of them would not come to Mecca again,
which would not only be bad for trade but would also diminish the honour
in which the guardians of the Sanctuary were now held. At the worst, the
Arabs might league together to drive them out of Mecca and to establish
another tribe or group of tribes in their place - as they themselves had
previously done with Khuza'ah, and as Khuza'ah had done with Jurhum. It
was therefore imperative that the visiting Arabs should be told that
Muhammad in no way represented Quraysh. But although it was easy to
deny his prophethood, that was merely to express an opinion and indirect-
ly to invite others to listen to his claims and judge for themselves.
Something else needed to be said in addition; and here lay their weakness,
for some had taken to saying that he was a soothsayer, others that he was
possessed, others that he was a poet, yet others that he was a sorcerer. They
consulted Walid the son of Mughlrah, probably the most influential man
of the tribe at that time, as to which of these accusations would be best
likely to convince, and he rejected them all as wide of the mark; but on
second thoughts he decided that although the man in question was
certainly not a sorcerer, he had at least one thing in common with
sorcerers: he had the power to separate a man from his father or from his
brother or from his wife or from his family in general. He advised them
therefore to let their unanimous accusation be along those lines, namely
that Muhammad was a dangerous sorcerer, to be avoided at all costs.
Having readily agreed to follow his advice, they decided that outside the
town all the roads by which Mecca was approached must be manned, and
that visitors must be warned in advance to be on their guard against
Muhammad, for they knew from their own experience how winning he
could be. Had he not been, before he began preaching, one of the best loved
men in Mecca? Nor had his tongue lost any of its eloquence, nor his
presence anything of its compelling majesty.

They carried out their plans with zeal and thoroughness. In at least one
particular case, however, they were doomed to failure from the outset. A
man of the Bani Ghifar named Abu Dharr - his tribe lived to the
north-west of Mecca, not far from the Red Sea - had already heard of the

54 Muhammad

Prophet and of the opposition to him. Like most of his tribesmen, Abu
Dharr was a highwayman; but unlike them he was a firm believer in the
Oneness of God, and he refused to pay any respect to idols. His brother
Unays went to Mecca for some reason, and on his return he told Abu Dharr
that there was a man of Quraysh who claimed to be a Prophet and who
said there is no god but God, and his people had disowned him in
consequence. Abu Dharr immediately set off for Mecca, in the certainty
that here was a true Prophet, and on his arrival those of the Quraysh who
manned the approaches told him all he wished to know before he had time
to ask. Without difficulty he found his way to the Prophet's house. The
Prophet was lying asleep on a bench in the courtyard, with his face covered
by a fold of his cloak. Abu Dharr woke him and wished him good morning.
"On thee be Peace!" said the Prophet. "Declaim unto me thine utter-
ances," said the Bedouin. "I am no poet," said the Prophet, "but what I
utter is the Koran, and it is not I who speak but God who speaketh."
"Recite for me," said Abu Dharr, and he recited to him a siirah, where-
upon Abu Dharr said: "I testify that there is no god but God, and that
Muhammad is the messenger of God." "Who are thy people?" said the
Prophet, and at the man's answer he looked him up and down in
amazement and said: "Verily God guideth whom He will."^ It was well
known that the Bani Ghifar were mostly robbers. Having instructed him in
Islam the Prophet told him to return to his people and await his orders. So
he returned to the Bani Ghifar, many of whom entered Islam through him.
Meantime he continued his calling as highwayman, with special attention
to the caravans of Quraysh. But when he had despoiled a caravan he would
offer to give back what he had taken on condition that they would testify to
the Oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad.

Another encounter with the Prophet had the result of bringing Islam to
the Bani Daws, who were also, like Ghifar, an outlying western tribe.
Tufayl, a man of Daws, told afterwards how he had been warned on his
arrival in Mecca against speaking to the sorcerer Muhammad or even
hstening to him lest he should find himself separated from his people.
Tufayl was a poet and a man of considerable standing in his tribe. Quraysh
were therefore especially insistent in their warning, and they made him so
afraid of being bewitched that before going into the Mosque he stuffed his
ears with cotton wool. The Prophet was there, having just taken up his
stance for prayer between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone as was
his wont, facing towards Jerusalem, with the south-east wall of the Ka*bah
immediately in front of him. His recitation of Koranic verses was not very
loud, but some of it none the less penetrated TufayPs ears. "God would not
have it", he said, "but that He should make me hear something of what
was recited, and I heard beautiful words. So I said to myself: I am a man of
insight, a poet, and not ignorant of the difference between the fair and the
foul. Why then should I not hear what this man is saying? If it be fair I will
accept it, and if foul, reject it. I stayed until the Prophet went away,
whereupon I followed him and when he entered his house I entered it upon
his heels and said; 'O Muhammad thy people told me this and that and

' I.S.IV,i64.

Quraysh Take Action 5 5

they so frightened me about thy state that I stuffed mine ears lest I should
hear thy speech. But God would not have it but that He should make me
hear thee. So tell me thou the truth of what thou art.' "

The Prophet explained Islam to him and recited the Koran, and Tufayl
made his profession of faith. Then he returned to his people, determined to
convert them. His father and his wife followed him into Islam, but the rest
of Daws held back, and he returned to Mecca in great disappointment and
anger, demanding that the Prophet should put a curse on them. But instead
the Prophet prayed for their guidance and said to Tufayl: "Return to thy
people, call them to Islam, and deal gendy with them."^ These instructions
he faithfully followed, and as the years passed more and more families of
Daws were converted.

Before meeting the Prophet, Tufayl had only met his enemies; but other
pilgrims met also his followers who told them a story very different from
what the enemies told them, and each believed what his nature prompted
him to believe. As a result the new religion was spoken of, well or ill,
throughout all Arabia; but nowhere was it more a theme of talk than in the
oasis of Yathrib.

1 1.1.25^-4.

XIX

Aws and Khazraj

THE tribes of Aws and Khazraj had alliances with some of the Jewish
tribes who Uved beside them in Yathrib. But relations between them
were often strained and fraught with ill feeling, not least because the
monotheistic Jews, conscious of being God's chosen people, despised the
polytheistic Arabs, while having to pay them a certain respect because of
their greater strength. In moments of acrimony and frustration, the Jews
had been known to say: "The time of a Prophet who is to be sent is now at
hand, with him we shall slay you, even as *Ad and *lram^ were slain." And
their rabbis and soothsayers, when asked whence the Prophet would come,
had always pointed in the direaion of the Yemen which was also, for them,
the direction of Mecca. So when the Yathrib Arabs heard that a man in
Mecca had now in fact declared himself to be a Prophet, they opened their
ears; and they were still more interested when they were told something
about his message, for they were already familiar with many of the
principles of orthodox religion. In more friendly moments, the Jews often
spoke to them of the Oneness of God, and of man's final ends, and they
would discuss these questions together. The idea that they would rise from
the dead was especially difficult for the polytheists to accept; and noticing
this, one of the rabbis pointed to the south and said that thence a Prophet
was about to come who would affirm the truth of the Resurrection.

But their deepest preparation for the news from Mecca had come,
indirectly, from a Jew named Ibn al-Hayyaban who had migrated from
Syria, and who on more than one occasion had saved the oasis from
drought through his prayers for rain. This saintly man had died about the
time that the Prophet had received his first Revelation; and when he had
felt himself at the point of death - as Aws and Khazraj were subsequently
told - he had said to those about him:-"0 Jews, what was it, think ye, that
made me leave a land of bread and wine for a land of hardship and
hunger?" "Thou best knowest," they said. "I came to this country," he
answered, "in expectation of the coming forth of a Prophet whose time is
near. To this country he will migrate. I had hopes that he would be sent in
time for me to follow him. His hour is close upon you."^ These words were
taken greatly to heart by some Jewish youths who heard them and who
were enabled by them, when the time came, to accept the Prophet even
though he was not a Jew,

^ Ancient Arab tribes, suddenly destroyed for their refusal to obey the Prophets who
were sent to them.
2 U.136.

Aw sand Khazraj 5 7

But generally speaking, whereas the Arabs were in favour of the man but
against the message, the Jews were in favour of the message but against the
man. For how could God send a Prophet who was not one of the chosen
people? None the less, when the pilgrims brought news of the Prophet to
Yathrib, the Jews were interested despite themselves and eagerly ques-
tioned them for more details; and when the Arabs of the oasis sensed this
eagerness, and when they saw how the monotheistic nature of the message
increased the interest of the rabbis tenfold, they could not fail to be
impressed, as were the bearers of the tidings themselves.

Apart from such considerations, the tribe of Khazraj was fully aware of
its strong links of kinship wdth the very man who now claimed to be a
Prophet, and who had visited Yathrib with his mother as a child, and since
then, more than once, on his way to Syria. As to Aws, one of their leading
men, Abu Qays, had married a Meccan who was the aunt of Waraqah and
also of Khadijah. Abu Qays had often stayed with his wife's family, and he
respected Waraqah 's opinion of the new Prophet.

All these factors, supplemented by continuous reports of pilgrims and
other visitors from Mecca, now began to work upon the people of the
oasis. But for the moment most of their attention was centred upon the
urgent problems of their own internal affairs. A quarrel ending in blood-
shed between an Awsite and a Khazrajite had gradually involved more and
more clans of the two tribes. Even the Jews had taken sides. Three battles
had already been fought, but instead of being decisive these had inflamed
the souls of men still further, and multiplied the needs for revenge. A fourth
battle on a larger scale than the others seemed inevitable; and it was in view
of this that the leaders of Aws had the idea of sending a delegation to
Mecca to ask Quraysh for their help against Khazraj.

While they were waiting for an answer, the Prophet went to them and
asked them if they would like something better than what they had come
for. They asked what that might be, and he told them of his mission and of
the religion he had been commanded to preach. Then he recited to them
some of the Koran, and when he had finished a young man named lyas, son
of Mu*adh, exclaimed: "People, by God this is better than that ye came
for!" But the leader of the delegation took a handful of earth and threw it
in the youth's face, saying: "Let that be all from thee! By my Ufe, we have
come for other than this." lyas relapsed into silence, and the Prophet left
them. Quraysh refused their request for help, and they returned to Medina.
Shortly after this lyas died, and those who were present at his death said
that they heard him continually testifying to the Oneness of God and
magnifying, praising and glorifying Him until the end. He is thus counted
as the first man of Yathrib to enter Islam.

Abu Jahl and
Hamzah

IN Mecca the steady increase in the number of beHevers brought with it
a corresponding increase in the hostility of the disbelievers; and one
day when some of the chief men of Quraysh were gathered together in
the Hijr, bitterly stirring up each others* anger against the Prophet, it so
happened that the Prophet himself entered the Sanctuary. Going to the east
corner of the Ka'bah, he kissed the Black Stone and began to make the
seven rounds. As he passed the Hijr they raised their voices in slanderous
calumny against him, and it was clear from his face that he had heard what .
they said. He passed them again on his second round, and again they
slandered him. But when they did the same as he was passing them the
third time he stopped and said; 'O Quraysh, will ye hear me? Verily by
Him who holdeth my soul in His Hand, I bring you slaughter!"^ This word
and the way he said it seemed to bind them as by a spell. Not one of them
moved or spoke, until the silence was finally broken by one of those who
had been most violent, saying in all gentleness: 'Go thy way, O Abu
1-Qasim, for by God thou art not an ignorant fool.'* But the respite did not
last long, for they soon began to blame themselves for having been so
unaccountably overawed, and they vowed that in the future they would
make amends for this momentary weakness.

One of the worst enemies of Islam was a man of Makhzum named *Amr
and known to his family and friends as Abu 1-Hakam, which the Muslims
were not slow to change into Abu Jahl, "the father of ignorance". He was a
grandson of MughTrah and nephew of the now elderly Walid who was
chief of the clan. Abu Jahl felt sure of succeeding his uncle, and he had
already established for himself a certain position in Mecca through his
wealth and his ostentatious hospitality, and partly also through making
himself feared on account of his ruthlessness and his readiness to take
revenge on anyone who opposed him. He had been the most indefatigable
of all those men who had manned the approaches to Mecca during the
recent Pilgrimage, and the most vociferous in his denunciation of the
Prophet as a dangerous sorcerer. He was also the most active in persecut-
ing the more helpless believers of his own clan, and in urging other clans to

' U. 183.

Abu J ah I and Hatnzah 59

do the same. But one day, despite himself, he indirectly did the new religion
a great service.

The Prophet was sitting outside the Mosque near the Safa Gate, so
named because the pilgrims go out through it to perform the rite of passing
seven times between the hill of Safa Which is near the gate and the hill of
Marwah some 450 yards to the north. A rock near the foot of Safa marks
the starting point of the ancient rite, and the Prophet was alone at this
hallowed place when Abu Jahl came past. Here was an opportunity for the
Makhzumite to show that he at least was not overawed; and standing in
front of the Prophet he proceeded to revile him with all the abuse he could
muster. The Prophet merely looked at him, but spoke no word; and finally,
having heaped upon him the worst insults he could think of, Abu Jahl
entered the Mosque to join those of Quraysh who were assembled in the
Hijr. The Prophet sadly rose to his feet and returned to his home.

Scarcely had he gone than Hamzah came in sight from the opposite
direction on his way from the chase, with his bow slung over his shoulder.
It was his custom, whenever he came back from hunting, to do honour to
the Holy House before he joined his family. Seeing him approach, a
woman came out of her house near the Safa Gate and addressed him. She
was a freedwoman of the household of the now dead * Abd Allah ibn Jud'an
of Taym, the man who twenty years previously had been one of the chief
inaugurators of the chivalric pact, Hilf al-Fudul. The Jud*an family were
cousins of Abu Bakr, and she herself, being well disposed to the Prophet
and his religion, had been outraged by Abu Jahl's insults, every word of
which she had overheard. "Abu 'Umarah,"^ she said to Hamzah, "if only
thou hadst seen how Muhammad, thy brother's son, was treated even now
by Abu 1-Hakam, the son of Hisham. He found him sitting here, and most
odiously reviled him and abused him. Then he left him" - she pointed
towards the Mosque to indicate where he had gone - "and Muhammad
answered not a word." Hamzah was of a friendly nature and an easy
disposition. He was none the less the most stalwart man of Quraysh, and
when roused he was the most formidable and the most unyielding. His
mighty frame now shook with anger such as he had never felt, and his
anger set free something in his soul, and brought to completion an already
half formed resolve. Striding into the Mosque he made straight for Abii
Jahl; and, standing over him, he raised his bow and brought it down with
all his force on his back. "Wilt thou insult him," he said "now that I am of
his religion, and now that I avouch what he avoucheth? Strike me blow for
blow, if thou canst." Abu Jahl was not lacking in courage, but on this
occasion he evidently felt that it was better that the incident should be
closed. So when some of the Makhzumites present rose to their feet as if to
help him he motioned them to be seated, saying: "Let Abu 'Umarah be, for
by God I reviled his brother's son with a right ugly reviling."

^ 'Umarah was Hamzah's daughter. The politest form of address among the Arabs is to
name a man "Father (Abu) of so-and-so" and a woman "Mother (Umm) of so-and-so".

XXI

Quraysh Make
Offers and
Demands

FROM that day Hamzah faithfully maintained his Islam and fol-
lowed all the Prophet's behests. Nor did his conversion fail to have its
effect upon Quraysh, who were now more hesitant to harass the
Prophet directly, knowing that Hamzah would protect him. On the other
hand, this totally unexpected event made them all the more conscious of
what they considered to be the gravity of the situation; and it increased
their sense of the need to find a solution and to stop a movement which, so
it seemed to them, could only end in the ruin of their high standing among
the Arabs. In view of this danger they agreed to change their tactics and to
follow a suggestion which was now made in the assembly by one of the
leading men of *Abdu Shams, 'Utbah ibn Rabi^ah. "Why should I not go to
Muhammad," he said, "and make certain offers to him, some of which he
might accept? And what he accepteth, that will we give him, on condition
that he leave us in peace." Word now came that the Prophet was sitting
alone beside the Ka'bah, so 'Utbah left the assembly forthwith and went to
the Mosque. He had proposed himself for this task partly because he was a
grandson of 'Abdu Shams, the brother of Hashim; and though the clans
named after these two sons of 'Abdu Manaf, son of the great Qusayy, had
drifted apart, their differences could easily be sunk in virtue of their
common ancestor. Moreover, 'Utbah was of a less violent and more
conciliatory nature than most of Quraysh; and he was also more intelli-
gent.

"Son of my brother," he said to the Prophet, "thou art as thou knowest a
noble of the tribe and thy lineage assureth thee of a place of honour. And
now thou hast brought to thy people a matter of grave concern, whereby
thou hast rifted their community, declared their way of life to be fooHsh,
spoken shamefully of their gods and their religion, and called their
forefathers infidels. So hear what I propose, and see if any of it be
acceptable to thee. If it be wealth thou seekest, we will put together a
fortune for thee from our various properties that thou mayst be the richest
man amongst us. If it be honour thou seekest, we will make thee our
overlord and take no decision without thy consent; and if thou wouldst
have kingship, we will make thee our king; and if thyself thou canst not rid

Quraysh Make Offers and Demands 61

thee of this sprite that appeareth unto thee, we will find thee a physician
and spend our wealth until thy cure be complete." When he had finished
speaking, the Prophet said to him; '*Now hear thou me, O Father of
Walid." ''I will," said *Utbah, whereupon the Prophet recited to him part
of a Revelation which he had recendy received.

*Utbah was prepared to make at least a semblance of heeding, out of
policy towards a man he hoped to win, but after a few sentences all such
thoughts had changed to wonderment at the words themselves. He sat
there with his hands behind his back, leaning upon them as he listened,
amazed at the beauty of the language that flowed into his ears. The signs^
that were recited spoke of the Revelation itself, and of the creation of the
earth and the firmament. Then it told of the Prophets and of the peoples of
old who, having resisted them, had been destroyed and doomed to Hell.
Then came a passage which spoke of the believers, promising them the
protection of the Angels in this life and the satisfaction of every desire in
the Hereafter, The Prophet ended his recitation with the words: And of His
signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Bow not down in
adoration unto the sun nor unto the moon, hut bow down in adoration
unto God their Creator , if Him indeed ye worships — whereupon he placed
his forehead on the ground in prostration. Then he said: "Thou hast heard
what thou hast heard, O Abu 1-Walld, and all is now between thee and
that."

When *Utbah returned to his companions they were so struck by the
change of expression on his face that they exclaimed: "What hath befallen
thee, O Abu 1-Walid?" He answered them saying: **I have heard an
utterance the like of which I have never yet heard. It is not poetry, by God,
neither is it sorcery nor soothsaying. Men of Quraysh, hearken unto me,
and do as I say. Come not between this man and what he is about, but let
him be, for by God the words that I have heard from him will be received as
great tidings. If the Arabs strike him down ye will be rid of him at the hands
of others, and if he overcome the Arabs, then his sovereignty will be your
sovereignty and his might will be your might, and ye will be the most
fortunate of men." But they mocked at him saying: "He hath bewitched
thee with his tongue." "I have given you my opinion," he answered, "so do
what ye think is best." He opposed them no further, nor was the impact
made on him by the Koranic verses more than a fleeting impression.
Meantime, since he had not brought back an answer to any of the
questions he had put, one of the others said: "Let us send for Muhammad
and talk to him and argue with him, so that we cannot be blamed for
having left any way unattempted." So they sent for him saying: "The
nobles of thy people are gathered together that they may speak with thee,"
and he went to them with all speed, thinking that they must have been
prevailed upon to change their attitude. He longed to guide them to the
truth, but his hopes faded as soon as they began repeating the offers
already made to him. When they had finished he said to them: "I am not
possessed, neither seek I honour amongst you, nor kingship over you. But

^ Each verse of die Koran is called a 'sign' that is, a miracle, in view of its direa
revelation.
' XLI,37.

6z Muhammad

God hath sent me to you as a messenger and revealed to me a book and
commanded me that I should be for you a teller of good tidings and a
warner. Even so have I conveyed to you the message of my Lord, and I have
given you good counsel. If ye accept from me what 1 have brought you, that
is your good fortune in this world and the next; but if ye reject what I have
brought, then will I patiently await God's judgement between us."^

Their only reply was to go back to where they had left off, and to say that
if he would not accept their offers, then let him do something which would
prove to them that he was a messenger from God, and which would at the
same time make life easier for them. "Ask thy Lord to remove from us these
mountains which hem us round and to flatten for us our land and to make
rivers flow through it even as the rivers of Syria and Iraq; and to raise for us
some of our forefathers, Qusayy amongst them, that we may ask them if
what thou sayest be true or false. Or if thou wilt not do these things for us,
then ask favours for thyself. Ask God to send with thee an Angel who shall
confirm thy words and give us the lie. And ask Him to bestow on thee
gardens and palaces and treasures of gold and silver, that we may know
how well thou standest with thy Lord." The Prophet answered them,
saying: "I am not one to ask of his Lord the like of such things, nor was I
sent for that, but God hath sent me to warn and give good tidings."
Refusing to listen, they said: "Then make fall the sky in pieces on our
heads," in scornful reference to the already revealed verse: If We will. We
shall make the earth gape and swallow them, or make fall the firmament in
pieces upon themr "That is for God to decide," he said. "If He will, He
will do it."

Without answering, except by mutual glances of derision, they went to
another point. For them, one of the most puzzling features of the Revela-
tion was the constant recurrence of the strange name Rahman,^ apparently
related to the source of the Prophet's inspiration. One of the Revelations
began with the words The Infinitely Good (ar-Rahmdn) taught the Koran,*
and because it pleased them to accept the rumour that Muhammad was
taught his utterances by a man in Yamamah, their final retort on this
occasion was to say: "We have heard that all this is taught thee by a man in
Yamamah called Rahman, and in Rahman will we never believe!" The
Prophet remained silent, and they continued: "We have now justified
ourselves before thee, Muhammad; and we swear by God that we will not
leave thee in peace nor desist from our present treatment of thee until we
destroy thee or until thou destroy us." And one of them added: "We will
not believe in thee until thou bring us God and the Angels as a warrant." At
these words the Prophet rose to his feet, and as he was about to leave them
'Abd Allah, the son of Abu Umayyah of Makhzum, also rose and said to
him: "I will not believe in thee ever, nay, not until thou takest a ladder and I
see thee mount on it up to heaven, and until thou bringest four Angels to
testify that thou art what thou claimest to be; and even then I think I would
not beheve thee." Now this 'Abd Allah, on his father's side, was first cousin
to Abu Jahl; but his mother was 'Atikah, daughter of 'Abd al-Muttalib,
and she had named her son after her brother, the Prophet's father. So the

U.188. ' XXXIV, 9. 3 See above, pp. 46-9. * LV, 1.

Quraysh Make Offers and Demands 63

Prophet went home with the sadness at hearing such words from so near a
kinsman added to his general sorrow at the great distance which now lay
between himself and the leaders of his people.

Yet from the clan of Makhzum, where so much hatred seemed to be
concentrated, he had at least the devotion of Abu Salamah, the son of his
aunt Barrah; and now from that direction there came an unexpected help
and strength for the new religion. Abu Salamah had a rich cousin on his
father's side named Arqam - their Makhzumite grandfathers were
brothers - and Arqam came to the Prophet and pronounced the two
testifications la ildha Hid Lldh, there is no god but God, and Muhammadm
rasulu Lldh, Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Then he placed his
large house near the foot of Mount Safa at the service of Islam. From
henceforth the believers had a refuge in the very centre of Mecca where
they could meet and pray together without fear of being seen or disturbed.

XXII

Leaders ofQuraysh

THE followers of the Prophet were continually increasing, but
whenever a new convert came to him and pledged his or her
allegiance, it was more often than not a slave, or a freed slave, or
a member of Quraysh of the Outskirts or else a young man or woman
from Quraysh of the Hollow, of influential family but of no influence
in themselves, whose conversion would increase tenfold the hostility
of their parents and elder kinsmen. 'Abd ar-Rahman, Hamzah and
Arqam had been exceptions, but they were far from being leaders; and
the Prophet longed to win over some of the chiefs, not one of whom, not
even his uncle Abu Talib, had shown any inclination to join him. It would
greatly help him to spread his message if he had the support of a man like
Abu Jahl's uncle, Walid, who was not only chief of Makhzum but also, if it
were possible to say such a thing, the unofficial leader of Quraysh. He was,
moreover, a man who seemed more open to argument than many of the
others; and one day an opportunity came for the Prophet to speak with
WalTd alone. But when they were deep in converse a blind man came past,
one who had recently entered Islam, and hearing the Prophet's voice he
begged him to recite to him some of the Koran. When asked to be patient
and wait for a better moment, the blind man became so importunate that
in the end the Prophet frowned and turned away. His conversation had
been ruined; but the interruption was not the cause of any loss, for Walid
was in fact no more open to the message than those whose case seemed
hopeless.

A new siirah was revealed almost immediately, and it began with the
words: He froivned and turned away, because the blind man came to him.
The Revelation continued: As to him who sufficeth unto himself, with him
thou art engrossed, yet is it no concern of thine if purified he be not. But as
for him who cometh unto thee in eager earnestness and in fear of God,
from him thou art drawn away}

Not long after this, Walid was to betray his own self-satisfaction by
saying: "Are revelations sent to Muhammad and not to me, when I am the
chief man of Quraysh and their lord? Are they sent neither to me nor to
Abu Mas'ud, the lord of Thaqif , when we are the two great men of the two
townships?"^ The reaction of Abu Jahl was less coldly confident and more
passionate. The possibility that Muhammad might be a Prophet was too
intolerable to be entertained for one moment. "We and the sons of *Abdu

LXXX,5-io. 2 1.1.238; see K.XLIII.

Leaders of Quraysh 65

Manaf he said, "have vied for honour, the one with the other. They have
fed food, and v^^e have fed food. They have borne others* burdens, and v^^e
have borne others' burdens. They have given, and we have given, until,
when we were running equal, knee unto knee, like two mares in a race, they
say: *One of our men is a Prophet; Revelations come to him from Heaven !'
And when shall we attain to the like of this? By God, we will never believe
in him, never admit him to be a speaker of truth.'* As to the Shamsite
'Utbah, his reaction was less negative, but almost equally lacking in sense
of proportion; for his first thought was not that Muhammad must be
followed if he were a Prophet but that his prophethood would bring
honour to the sons of 'Abdu Manaf. So one day, when Abu Jahl pointed
derisively at the object of his hatred and said to *Utbah: "There is your
prophet, O sons of 'Abdu Manaf,'* 'Utbah rejoined sharply: "And why
shouldst thou take it amiss if we have a prophet, or a king?" This last word
was a reference to Qusayy, and a subtle reminder to the Makhziimite that
'Abdu Manaf was Qusayy's son, whereas Makhzum was only his cousin.
The Prophet was near enough to hear this altercation and he came to them
and said: "O 'Utbah, thou wast not vexed for the sake of God, nor for the
sake of His messenger, but for thine own sake. And as for thee, Abu Jahl, a
calamity shall come upon thee. Little shalt thou laugh, and much shalt
thouweep."^

The fortunes of the various clans of Quraysh were continually fluctuat-
ing. Two of the most powerful at this time were 'Abdu Shams and
Makhzum. 'Utbah and his brother Shaybah were the leaders of one branch
of the Shamsite clan. Their cousin Harb, the former leader of its Umayyad
branch, had been succeeded on his death by his son Abu Sufyan, who had
married, amongst other wives, 'Utbah's daughter Hind. Abu Sufyan's
success, both in politics and in trade, was partly due to his reserve of
judgement and his capacity for cold and patient deliberation - and also
forbearance, if his astute sense of opportunity saw that an advantage could
thereby be gained. His cool-headedness was a frequent cause of exaspera-
tion for the impetuous and quick-tempered Hind, but he seldom if ever
allowed her to sway him once his mind was made up. As might have been
expected, he was less violent than Abu Jahl in his hostility towards the
Prophet.

But if the leaders of Quraysh differed somewhat from each other in their
attitude towards the Messenger, they were unanimous in their rejection of
the message itself. Having all attained a certain success in life ~ though the
younger men hoped that for them this was merely the beginning - they had
by common consent achieved something of what had come to be accepted
in Arabia as the ideal of human greatness. Wealth was not held to be an
aspect of that greatness, but it was in fact almost a necessity as a means to
the end. A great man must be greatly in demand as an ally and a protector,
which meant that he must himself have reliable allies. This he could partly
contrive by weaving for himself, through his own marriages and the
marriages of his sons and his daughters, a network of powerful and
formidable connections. Much in this respect could be achieved by wealth,

^ Tab. 1203, 3.

66 Muhammad

which the great man also needed in his capacity as host. The virtues were
an essential aspect of the ideal in question, especially the virtue of
generosity, but not with a view to any heavenly reward. To be extolled by
men, throughout all Arabia and perhaps beyond, for lavish bounty, for
leonine courage, for unfailing fidelity to one's word, whether it had been
given for alliance, protection, guarantee or any other purpose - to be
extolled for these virtues in life and after death was the honour and the
immortality which seemed to them to give life its meaning. Men like Walid
felt certain of such greatness; and this generated in them a complacence
which made them deaf to a message that stressed the vanity of earthly life-
the vanity of the very setting where their own success had taken place.
Their immortality depended on Arabia remaining as it was, on Arab ideals
being perpetuated from the past into the future. They were all sensitive, in
varying degrees, to the beauty of the language of the Revelation; but as to
its meaning, their souls spontaneously closed themselves to such verses as
the following, which told them that they and their honoured forefathers
had achieved nothing, and that all their efforts had been misplaced: This
lower life is but a diversion and a game; and verily the abode of the
Hereafter, that, that is Life, did they but know}

' XXIX, 64-

XXIII

Wonderment and
Hope

THE young and the less successful did not by any means all accept the
Divine message forthwith; but at least complacency had not block-
ed their hearing against the sharpness and vehemence of the sum-
mons, which had broken upon their little world as with the notes of a
clarion. The voice that *Uthman had heard crying in the desert "Sleepers
awake" was akin to the message itself and for those who now accepted the
message it was indeed as if they had awakened from a sleep and had
entered upon a new life.

The disbelievers' attitude, past and present, was summed up in the
words: There is naught hut the life of this world . . . and we shall not be
raised? To this came the Divine answers: Not in play did We create the
heavens and the earth and all that is between them^ and Deem ye that We
did but create you in vain and that ye shall not be brought hack unto Usf^
For those in whom disbelief had not crystallised, these words rang with
truth; and so it was with the Revelation as a whole, which described itself
as being a light and having in itself the power to guide. A parallel
imperative cause for accepting the message was the Messenger himself, a
man who was, they were certain, too full of truth to deceive and too full of
wisdom to be self-deceived. The Message contained a warning and a
promise: the warning impelled them to take action, and the promise filled
them with joy.

Verily those who say: ''Our Lord is God", and who then follow straight
His path, on them descend the Angels saying: ''Fear not nor grieve, but
hearken to good tidings of the Paradise which ye are promised. We are
your protecting friends in this lower life, and in the Hereafter wherein ye
shall be given that which your souls long for, that which ye pray for, in
bounty from Him who is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful."^

Another of the many verses about Paradise which had now been revealed
was one which spoke of the Garden of Immortality which is promised to

' VI, 29. 2 XXI,I6;XUV,38. ' XXIII.iis. ' XLI, 30-2.

6S Muhammad

the pious. Of this it said: For them therein is that which they desire, for ever
and ever - a promise that thy Lord hath bound Himself to fulfil.^

The true beHevers are defined as they who set their hopes on meeting Us,
whereas the disbelievers are they who set not their hopes on meeting Us,
and who are satisfied with this lower life and find their deepest peace
therein, and fail to treat Our signs as signs, ^ The believer's attitude must be
the opposite in every way. An aspect of the dreamlike illusion in which the
infidels were sunk was to take for granted the blessings of nature. To be
awake to reality meant not only shifting one's hopes from this world to the
next but also marvelling in this world at the signs of God which here are
manifest. Blessed is He who hath placed in the heavens the constellations
of the zodiac, and hath placed therein a lamp and a light-giving moon. And
He it is who hath made the night and the day to succeed one the other, as a
sign for him who would reflect or give thanks,^

The leaders of Quraysh had asked defiantly for signs such as the descent
of an Angel to confirm the prophethood of Muhammad, and the rising of
Muhammad up to Heaven. On one occasion, a night of die full moon, not
long after it had risen, when it was to be seen hanging in the sky above
Mount Hira', a body of disbelievers approached the Prophet and asked
him to split the moon in two as a sign that he was indeed the Messenger of
God. Many others were also present, including believers and hesitants, and
when the demand was made all eyes were turned towards the luminary.
Great was their amazement to see it divide into two halves which drew
away from each other until there was a half moon shining brighdy on
either side of the mountain. "Bear ye witness," the Prophet said.^ But those
who had made the demand rejected this optic miracle as mere magic, ^
saying that he had cast a spell over them. The believers, on the other hand,
rejoiced, and some of the hesitants entered Islam, while others came nearer
to doing so.

This immediate heavenly response to a derisive challenge was an
exception. Others of the signs demanded by Quraysh were in fact given,
but not exactly as they had asked, and not in their time but in God's. There
were also many lesser miracles which only the believers witnessed. But
such wonders were never allowed to stand in the centre, for the revealed
Book itself was the central miracle of the Divine intervention now taking
place, just as Christ had been the central miracle of the preceding interven-
tion. According to the Koran, Jesus is both Messenger of God and also His
Word which He cast unto Mary, and a Spirit from Him-^ and as it had been
with the Word-made-flesh, so now analogously, it was through the Divine
Presence in this world of the Word-made-book that Islam was a religion in
the true sense of bond or link with the Hereafter. One of the functions of
the Word-made-book, with a view to the primordial religion that Islam
claimed to be,^ was to reawaken in man his primeval sense of wonderment
which, with the passage of time, had become dimmed or misdirected.
Therefore when Quraysh ask for marvels the Koran's main response is to
point to those which they have always had before their eyes without seeing
the wonder of them:

1 XXV, 15-16. ^ X,9. ' XXV, 61-2 ' B.LXI,Z4.
^ K.LIV,i-z. « IV, 171. 7 XXX, 30.

Wonderment and Hope 69

Will they not behold the camels, how they are created^
And the firmament^ how it is raised aloft?
And the mountains^ how they are established?
And the earth, how it is spread? '

The wonderment and hope demanded of the believer are both attitudes
of return to God. The sacrament of thanksgiving, to say Praise be to God
the Lord of the worlds^ includes wonder and takes the thing praised, and
with it the praiser, back to the Transcendent Origin of all good. The
sacrament of consecration, to say In the Name of God^ the Infinitely
Good, the All-Merciful, precipitates the soul in the same direction upon
the stream of hope. On this path of return the basic prayer of Islatn is
centred, al-Fatihah, the Opening, so called because it is the first chapter-
of the Koran:

Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.

The Infinitely Good, the All-Merciful,

Master of the day of judgement.

Thee we worship, and in Thee we seek help.

Guide us upon the straight path,

the path of those on whom Thy grace is,

not those on whom Thine anger is,

nor those who are astray,^

Also basic as a perfect and concentrated expression of the doctrine of
Islam is the Surat al-Ikhlds, the Chapter of Sincerity, which is placed at the
end of the Koran, the last surah but two, and which was revealed when an
idolater asked the Prophet to describe his Lord:

Say: He, God, is One,
God, the Self-Sufficient Besought of all.
He begetteth not, nor is begotten,
and none is like Him.""

' LXXXVIII, 17-20.

2 First in order of final arrangement but not of revelation. Its place in the Islamic liturgy
ensures that it is recited at least seventeen times every day.
' 1,2-7. ' CXII.

XXIV

Family Divisions

'ALIB and 'Aqil, the elder sons of Abu Talib, had not followed the
example of their younger brothers Ja'far and 'All, but had remained

^ like their father unconverted yet tolerant. Very different was the
attitude of Abu Lahab: since the recent confrontation with the leaders of
Quraysh he had become openly hostile; and his wife Umm Jamil, the sister
of the Shamsite leader Abii Sufyan, had conceived a hatred for the Prophet.
Between them they compelled their two sons to repudiate Ruqayyah and
Umm Kulthum - it is not certain whether the marriages had already taken
place, or whether they were still only betrothed. But Umm Jamil's
satisfaction at this rupture was diminished when she heard that her
wealthy Umayyad cousin, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, had asked for the hand of
Ruqayyah and had married her. This marriage was most pleasing to the
Prophet and Khadijah. Their daughter was happy and their new son-in-
law was devoted to her and to them. There was also another consideration
which impelled them to give thanks: Ruqayyah was the most beautiful of
their daughters and one of the most beautiful women of her generation
throughout all Mecca; and 'Uthman was a remarkably handsome man. To
see the two of them together was in itself a reason for rejoicing. "God is
Beautiful and he loveth beauty".* Not long after their marriage, when they
were both absent from Mecca, the Prophet sent them a messenger, who
returned considerably later than he was expected. When he began to
proffer his excuses the Prophet cut him short, saying: "I will tell thee, if
thou wilt, what hath kept thee: thou didst stand there gazing at 'Uthman
and Ruqayyah and marvelling at their beauty."^

The Prophet's aunt Arwa now made up her mind to enter Islam. The
immediate cause of her decision was her son Tulayb, a youth of fifteen,
who had recently made his profession of faith in the house of Arqam.
When he told his mother she said: "If we could do what men can do, we
would protect our brother's son." But Tulayb refused to accept such
vagueness. '*What preventeth thee," he said, "from entering Islam and
following him? Thy brother Hamzah hath done so." And when she made
her usual excuse about waiting for her sisters he cut her short, saying: "I
beg thee by God to go and greet him and say thou believest in him and
testify that There is no god but God,*' She did what he had said; and,
having done so, she took courage, and rebuked her brother Abu Lahab for
his treatment of their nephew.

' Saying of the Prophet, A.H. IV, 133-4. ^ S. 105.

Family Divisions 71

As to Khadljah*s relatives, no sooner had Islam become known in Mecca
than her half brother Nawfal became one of its worst and most violent
enemies. This did not, however, prevent his son Aswad from entering the
religion which was for Khadljah a compensation for Nawfal*s enmity. But
it was a disappointment that her favourite nephew, the Shamsite Abu
l-'As, already for some years her son-in-law, had not entered Islam as his
wife Zaynab had done; and great presssure was now being put upon him
by the leaders of his clan and others to divorce her. They went so far as to
suggest that he should look for the richest, best-connected and most
beautiful bride available in Mecca, and they promised, on condition of his
divorce, that they would unite their efforts towards arranging the marriage
in question. But Zaynab and Abu l-*As loved each other deeply: she always
hoped and prayed that he would join her in Islam; and he, for his part,
firmly told his clansmen that he already had the wife of his choice and that
he wanted none other. Hakim, another of Khadljah's nephews - her
brother yizam's son who nearly twenty years previously had made her a
present of Zayd - retained like Abu l-*As his affection for his aunt and her
household without renouncing the gods of Quraysh; but Hakim's brother
Khalid entered Islam.

Verily thou guidest not whom thou lovest, but God guideth whom He
wilL^ The truth expressed in this verse is repeated continually through the
Koran. But if such Revelations helped to ease the weight of the Prophet's
sense of responsibility, they did not prevent him from being sad at the
averseness of his Makhzumite cousin *Abd Allah; and another such case,
which perhaps caused him even more sadness was that of his uncle
Harith's son, Abu Sufyan, his foster-brother, cousin and one-time friend.
He had hoped that he would respond to his message, whereas on the
contrary the message made a rift between them, and Abu Sufyan's
aloofness and coldness increased as time went on, perhaps through the
influence of their uncle Abu Lahab. Others also were made to feel the truth
of the above-quoted verse: Abu Bakr had been followed into Islam by his
wife Umm Run^an, and by 'Abd Allah and Asma', his son and daughter by
another wife presumably now dead. Umm Ruman had just borne him a
second daughter whom they named 'A'ishah and who was, like Zayd's son
Usamah, one of the first children to be born into Islam. But although Abu
Bakr had been responsible for so many conversions he was unable to
convert his own eldest son, 'Abd al-Ka'bah, who resisted all the attempts
of his father and his mother - he was Umm Ruman's son - to persuade him
to enter their religion.

If the behevers had disappointments, their opponents had the vexation
of feeling themselves face to face with a new and incalculable presence in
Mecca which threatened to disrupt their way of life and frustrate all their
projects for the future, especially those which related to planning the
marriages of their children. The Bani Makhzum had been gratified when
their clansmen 'Abd Allah had so sharply opposed his cousin Muhammad
in the Assembly. 'Abd Allah's brother Zuhayr, though somewhat less
hostile to the new religion, had also refused to enter it. Like 'Abd Allah, he

XXVIII, 57.

71 Muhammad

was the son of 'Atikah, the daughter of 'Abd al-Muttalib, but their now
dead father had had a second wife also named 'Atikah, who had borne
him a daughter. Hind, for so she was named, was a woman of great
beauty, now in her nineteenth year, and she had not long been married
to the cousin of her two half-brothers, Abu Salamah of the other branch
of Makhzum. The whole clan was pleased at this link between their two
branches. Great, therefore, was their dismay when Abu Salamah's Islam
became known; and this dismay was doubled when Hind - or Umm
Salamah, as she is always called - instead of leaving her husband became
like him one of the most devoted followers of the Prophet.

On the death of Abu Salamah's father, his mother Barrah had married a
man of the Quraysh clan of 'Amir by whom she had had a second son,
known as Abu Sabrah. Suhayl, the chief of 'Amir, had recently given Abu
Sabrah his daughter Umm Kulthum in rnarriage. Barrah, unlike her sister
Arwa, had not yet entered Islam; but Abu Sabrah was subject to its
influence not only through his half-brother Abu Salamah but also through
his stepmother, his father's second wife Maymunah. It was to Maymunah
and her three sisters, the wives of 'Abbas, Hamzah and Ja'far, that the
Prophet referred when he said: "Verily the sisters are true believers";' and
Maymunah's marriage brought to the clan of 'Amir a powerful presence of
faith.

Suhayl had another daughter, Sahlah, whom he had given to Abu
Hudhayfah, the son of the Shamsite leader 'Utbah. 'Amir had of late been
rapidly increasing in power, and this marriage was thought to be an
advantageous one by both the clans concerned. Not long afterwards,
however, the couple entered Islam; they were followed, or preceded, by the
other couple, Abu Sabrah and Umm Kulthum. Suhayl thus lost two
daughters to the new religion, and two carefully chosen sons-in-law. He
likewise lost his three brothers, Hatib, Sallt and Sakran, and Sakran's wife,
their cousin Sawdah, But, worst of all from Suhayl's point of view, his
eldest son, 'Abd Allah, also became a devout follower of the Prophet. 'Abd
Allah had hopes that his father might one day join them, ?»nd these hopes
were shared by the Prophet himself, for Suhayl was a man of more piety
and intelligence than most of the other leaders, and had even been known
to make spiritual retreats. But as yet he showed himself hostile to the new
faith, not violently but none the less resolutely, and his children's
disobedience seemed to have a hardening effect upon him.

In *Abdu Shams, Abu Hudhayfah was not the only son of a leader to defy
parental authority. Khalid, who had dreamed of the Prophet saving him
from the fire, had kept his Islam secret, but his father heard of it and
ordered him to renounce it. Khalid said: "I will die sooner than forsake the
religion of Muhammad",^ whereupon he was beaten unmercifully and
imprisoned in a room without food or drink. But after three days he
escaped, and his father disowned him without taking further action.
'Utbah was characteristically less violent and more patient with Abu
Hudhayfah, who for his part was attached to his father and hoped that he
would come to see the errors of idolatry.

I.S. VIII, 203. 2 I.S.IVi,68.

Family Divisions 73

As to the Umayyad branch of *Abdu Shams, in addition to the Islam of
*Uthman and his marriage to Ruqayyah, there were other serious losses.
Many of their confederates of the Bani Asad ibn Khuzaymah had Ukewise
professed their faith in the new reHgion, fourteen in number including the
Jahsh family who, as cousins of the Prophet, were no doubt the leaders.
With these valued confederates Abu Sufyan the Umayyad chief lost also his
own daughter, Umm Habibah, whom he had married to *Ubayd Allah ibn
Jahsh, the younger brother of *Abd Allah.

In the clan of * Adi, in one of its chief families, the power of the tie of truth
to break lesser ties had been prefigured in the last generation. Nufayl had
had two sons, Khattab and *Amr, by two different wives; and on the death
of Nufayl the mother of Khattab married her stepson * Amr and bore him a
son whom they named Zayd. Khattab and Zayd were thus half-brothers
on their mother's side. Zayd was one of the few men who, Uke Waraqah,
saw the idolatrous practices of Quraysh for what they were; and not only
did he refuse to take part in them himself, but he even refused to eat
anything that had been sacrificed to idols. He proclaimed that he worship-
ped the God of Abraham, and he did not hesitate to rebuke his people in
pubUc. Khaffab, on the other hand, was a staunch adherent of the
inveterate practices of Quraysh and he was scandalised by Zayd's disre-
spect for the gods and goddesses that they worshipped. So he persecuted
him to the point of forcing him to leave the hollow of Mecca and to live in
the hills above it; and he even organised a band of young men whom he
instructed not to allow Zayd to approach the Sanctuary. The outcast
thereupon left the Hijaz and went as far as Mosul in the north of Iraq and
from there south-west into Syria, always questioning monks and rabbis
about the religion of Abraham, until finally he met a monk who told him
that the time was now near when there would come forth, in the very
country he had left, a Prophet who would preach the religion he was
seeking. Zayd then retraced his steps, but on his way through the territory
of Lakhm on the southern border of Syria he was attacked and killed.
When Waraqah heard of his death, he wrote an elegy in praise of him. The
Prophet also praised him and said that on the day of the Resurrection "he
will be raised as having, in himself alone, the worth of a whole people."'

Many years had now passed since Zayd's death: Khattab also was dead,
and his son *Umar was on good terms with Zayd's son Sa*id, who had
married *Umar's sister Fatimah. The rift between the two branches of the
family had closed. But with the coming of Islam Sa*id was one of the first to
join it, whereas 'Umar, whose mother was the sister of Abu Jahl, became
one of its fiercest opponents. Fatimah followed her husband, but they did
not dare to tell her brother, knowing his violent nature. *Umar was beset by
Islam on another side also: his wife Zaynab was the sister of *Uthman the
son of Maz*iin of the clan of Jumah; and this *Uthman was by nature an
ascetic and had had tendencies towards monotheism before the descent of
the Revelation. He and his two brothers were among the first to respond to
it; and they and Zaynab had also three nephews who had entered Islam. Of
Zaynab herself, *Umar's wife, nothing is recorded at this stage, no doubt

U. 145.

74 Muhammad

because, wherever her sympathies lay, she had powerful reasons for
keeping them a secret. Her brother 'Uthman was even more uncompromis-
ing than *Umar, though he was less violent.

Zaynab and her brothers were younger cousins of the chief of their clan,
Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who was one of the most implacable enemies of
Islam, as were his immediate family. It was his brother Ubayy who one day
took a decayed bone to the Prophet and said: "Claimest though, Mu-
hammad, that God can bring this to life?" Then with a disdainful smile he
crumbled the bone in his hand and blew the fragments into the face of the
Messenger, who said: "Even so, that do 1 claim: He will raise it, and thee
too when thou art as that now is; then will He enter thee into the fire."' It is
to Ubayy that the following Revelation refers: He forgot his own created-
ness and said: Who will give life to bones when they are rotten f Say: He
who gave them being the first time will give them life again}

' U.Z39. ' XXXVI, 78.

XXV

The Hour

NE of the disbelievers' most frequent contentions was that if God

had truly had a message for them he would have sent an Angel. To

V^-X this the Koran replied: If the angels walked at their ease upon
earth, verily We had sent down upon them an angel messenger,^ The
descent of Gabriel from time to time did not make him a Messenger in the
Koranic sense of the term. For that, it was necessary to be stationed upon
earth amongst the people to whom the message was to be unfolded. The
Revelation also said: They who place not their hopes in meeting Us say:
Why are the angels not sent down unto us? Or why see we not our Lord?
Verily they are proud with pride in themselves, and arrogant with a great
arrogance. The day they behold the angels, on that day there will be no
good tidings for the evil-doers, and they will say: A barrier that bars!^ That
is, they will call, but in vain, for the barrier to be put back between Heaven
and earth. That will be the end, when the direct contact with Heaven will
cause the earthly conditions of time and space to be obliterated and the
earth itself to disintegrate. The day men shall be like scattered moths, and
the mountains float like tufts ofwooU And A day that shall turn the hair of
children grey."* This end is continually heralded throughout the Koran. It is
the Hour, which is near at hand - the heavens and the earth are pregnant
with it/ Its moment has not yet come, and when the scriptures speak of it as
near it must be remembered that verily a day in the sight of thy Lord is as a
thousand years of what ye count.^ But the period of the message is none the
less an anticipation of the Hour.

This is according to the nature of things, not of earthly things in
themselves, but in a wider context. For if there is a Divine intervention to
establish a new religion there is necessarily a passage through the barrier
between Heaven and earth, not so great an opening as would transform
earthly conditions but enough to make the time of the Prophet's mission
altogether exceptional, as had been the times of Jesus and Moses and
Abraham and Noah. The Koran says of the Night of Worth, Laylat
al-Qadr, the night when Gabriel came to Muhammad in the cave on
Mount Hira': The Night of Worth is better than a thousand months. In it
the angels descend, and the Spirit? And something of that peerlessness
necessarily overflowed into the whole period of the intercourse between
the Prophet and the Archangel.

^ XXV, 21-2. ' CI, 4-5.
* XXII, 47. ' XCVII,3-4.

^ LXXIII,i7.

76 Muhammad

To anticipate the Ho\ir is to anticipate the Judgement: and the Koran ,
had recently declared itself to be al-Furqdn,^ the Criterion, the Discrimina-
tion. The same must apply to every revealed Scripture for a Revelation is a
presence of the Eternal in the ephemeral, and that otherworldly presence
precipitates something of a final judgement. This meant that in many cases,
quite independently of what the Prophet himself might prophesy, the
ultimate destinies of Paradise or Hell became clearly apparent. Hidden
depths of good and evil were summoned to the surface. The presence of the
Messenger was also bound to work a parallel effect, for the attractive
power of his guidance measured out the full perversity of those who
resisted it, while drawing those who accepted it into the very orbit of his
own perfection.

It was immediately understandable that the Revelation should cause the
good to excel themselves. But it was not only distressing but also perplex-
ing to many of the believers that some of those whom they had always
looked on as not bad should suddenly become unquestionably evil. The
Koran tells them that they must expect this, for its verses increase the
opposition of its worst opponents.

Verily We have given them in this Koran ample reason to take heed, yet
it doth but increase them in aversion.^

We give them cause to fear, yet it doth but increase them in monstrous
outrage,^

No one had been previously aware of the fundamental nature of Abu
Lahab; and, to take another example, * Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf had even
been something of a friend of the chief of Jumah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf . The
Koran offers an exalted parallel in telling how Noah complained to God
that his message only served to widen the gap between himself and the
majority of his people, and to lead them yet further astray.'*

^ This is the title of Surah XXV.

2 XVII, 41. ^ XVII, 60. LXXI,6.

XXVI

Three Questions

yiT every assembly of Quraysh there was at least some discussion of
what seemed to them their greatest problem; and they now decided
JL X. to send to Yathrib to consult the Jewish rabbis: "Ask them about
Muhammad," they said to their two envoys. "Describe him to them, and
tell them what he says; for they are the people of the first scripture, and
they have knowledge of the Prophets which we have not." The rabbis sent
back the answer: "Question him about three things wherein we will
instruct you. If he tell you of them, then is he a Prophet sent by God, but if
he tell you not, then is the man a forger of falsehood. Ask him of some
young men who left their folk in the days of old, how it was with them, for
theirs is a tale of wonder; and ask him tidings of a far traveller who reached
the ends of the earth in the east and in the west; and ask him of the Spirit,
what it is. If he tell you of these things, then follow him, for he is a
Prophet."

When the envoys returned to Mecca with their news, the leaders of
Quraysh sent to the Prophet and asked him the three questions. He said:
"Tomorrow I will tell you," but he did not say "if God will"; and when
they came for the answers he had to put them off, and so it went on day by
day until fifteen nights had passed and still he had received no Revelation
of any kind, neither had Gabriel come to him since they had questioned
him. The people of Mecca taunted him, and he was distressed by what they
said and greatly saddened that he had not received the help he had hoped
for. Then Gabriel brought him a Revelation reproaching him for his
distress on account of what his people said, and telling him the answers to
their three questions. The long wait he had had to endure was explained in
the words: And say not of anything: verily I shall do that tomorrow, except
thou sayest: if God wilU

But the delay of this Revelation, although painful to the Prophet and his
followers, was in reality an added strength. His worst enemies refused to
draw conclusions from it, but for those many of Quraysh who were in two
minds it was a powerful corroboration of his claim that the Revelation
came to him from Heaven and that he had no part in it and no control over
it. Was it conceivable that if Muhammad had invented the earlier Revela-
tions he could have delayed so long before inventing this latest one,
especially when so much appeared to be at stake?

The believers drew strength also, as always, from the Revelation itself.

XVIII, 23-4.

yS Muhammad

When Quraysh asked for the story of the youths who left their folk in the
days of old - a story which no one in Mecca had ever heard - they did not
know that it would have a bearing on the present situation, to their own
discredit and to the credit of the believers. It is often called the story of the
sleepers of Ephesus, for it was there, in the middle of the third century ad,
that some young men had remained faithful to the worship of the One God
when their people had fallen away into idolatry and were persecuting them
for not following them. To escape from this persecution they took refuge in
a cave, where they were miraculously put to sleep for over 300 years.

In addition to what the Jews already knew, the Koranic narrative^ told of
details that no human eye had seen, such as how the sleepers looked as they
slept their unwitnessed sleep in their cave throughout the centuries, and
how their faithful dog lay with his front paws stretched over the threshold.

As to the second question, the great traveller is named Dhu 1-Qarnayn,
he of the two horns. The Revelation mentions his journey to the far west
and to the far east, and then, answering more than was asked, it tells of a
mysterious third journey to a place between two mountains where the
people begged him to make a barrier that would protect them from Gog
and Magog and other jinn who were devastating their land; and God gave
him power to confine the evil spirits within a space from which they will
not emerge until a divinely appointed day,^ when, according to the
Prophet, they will work terrible destruction over the face of the earth.
Their breaking forth would take place before the final Hour, but it would
be one of the signs that the end was near.

In answer to the third question, the Revelation affirmed the Spirit*s
transcendence over the mind of man, which is incapable of grasping it:
They will question thee concerning the Spirit. Say: the Spirit proceedeth
from the command of my Lord; and ye have not been given knowledge,
save only a little.^

The Jews had been very eager to hear what answers Muhammad had
given to their questions; and, with regard to this last sentence about
knowledge, they asked him, at their first opportunity, if it referred to his
people or to them. "To both of you," said the Prophet, whereupon they
protested that they had been given knowledge of all things, for they had
read the Torah in which was an exposition of everything, as the Koran
itself affirmed.^ The Prophet answered: "That all is but little in respect of
God*s Own Knowledge; yet have ye therein enough for your needs, if ye
would but practise it."^ It was then that there came the Revelation about
the Words ofGody which express merely a part of His knowledge: If all the
trees in the earth were pens, and if the sea eked out by seven seas more were
ink, the Words of God could not be written out unto their end.^

The leaders of Quraysh had not bound themselves to take the advice of the
rabbis, nor did the rabbis themselves recognise the Prophet, despite his
having answered their questions beyond all their expectations. But the
answers served to convert others; and the more his followers increased, the
more his opponents felt that their community and their way of Ufe was in

' XVIII, 9-25. ^ XVlII,93-9- ' XVII, 85.
^ VI, 154. ^ U.198. « XXXI, z7.

Three Questions 79

danger, and the more resolutely they organised their persecution of all
those converts who could be ill-treated with impunity. Each clan dealt with
its own Muslims: they would imprison them and torment them with
beating and hunger and thirst; and they would stretch them out on the
sun-baked earth of Mecca when the heat was at its height, to make them
renounce their religion.

The chief of Jumah, Umayyah, had an African slave named Bilal who
was a firm believer. Umayyah would take him out at noon into an open
space, and would have him pinned to the ground with a large rock on his
chest, swearing that he should stay like that until he died, or until he
renounced Muhammad and worshipped al-Lat and al-'Uzzah. While he
endured this Bilal would say "One, One"; and it happened that the aged
Waraqah came past when he was suffering this torment and repeating
"One, One." "It is indeed One, One, O Bilal," said Waraqah, Then,
turning to Umayyah, he said: "I swear by God that if ye kill him thus I will
make his grave a shrine."

Not every man of Quraysh lived amongst his own clan, and Abu Bakr
had acquired a house amongst the dwellings of the Bani Jumah, This
meant that they had more opportunities of seeing the Prophet than most
other clans, for he used to visit Abu Bakr every afternoon; and it is said that
part of a Prophet's message is always written on his face. The face of Abu
Bakr was also something of a book; and his presence in that quarter of
Mecca, previously welcomed as an asset by the whole clan, was now a
source of anxiety to its leaders. It was through him that Bilal had entered
Islam; and, when he saw how they were torturing him, he said to
Umayyah: "Hast thou no fear of God, to treat this poor man thus?" "It is
thou who hast corrupted him," retorted Umayyah, "so save him from
what thou seest." "I will," said Abu Bakr. "I have a black youth who is
tougher and sturdier than he, a man of thy religion. Him will I give thee for
Bilal." Umayyah agreed, and Abu Bakr took Bilal and set him free.

He had already set free six others, the first one being *Amir ibn
Fuhayrah, a man of great spiritual strength, who had been one of the
earliest converts. *Amir was a shepherd and after he was freed he took
charge of Abu Bakr's flocks. Another of those whom he set free was a slave
girl belonging to *Umar. She had entered Islam, and *Umar was beating her
to make her renounce it, when Abu Bakr happened to pass by and asked
him if he would sell her to him. 'Umar agreed, whereupon Abii Bakr
bought her and set her free.

Among the most relentless of the persecutors was Abu Jahl. If a convert
had a powerful family to' defend him, Abu Jahl would merely insult him
and promise to ruin his reputation and make him a laughing-stock. If he
were a merchant he would threaten to stop his trade by organising a
general boycott of his goods so that he would be ruined. If he were weak
and unprotected and of his own clan he would have him tortured; and he
had powerful allies in many other clans whom he could persuade to do the
same with their own weak and unprotected converts.

It was through him that his clansmen tortured three of their poorer
confederates, Yasir and Sumayyah and their son * Ammar. They refused to
renounce Islam, and Sumayyah died under the sufferings they inflicted on

8o Muhammad

her. But some of the victims of Makhzum and of other clans could not
endure what they were made to suffer, and their persecutors reduced them
to a state when they could agree to anything. It was said to them: "Are not
al-Lat and al-*Uzzah your gods as well as Allah?" They would say yes; and
if a beetle crawled past them and they were asked "Is not this beetle your
god as well as Allah?" they would say yes simply in order to escape from a
pain they could not endure.

These recantations were on the lips, not in the heart. But those who had
made them could no longer practise Islam except in the greatest privacy,
and some of them had no privacy at all. There was, however, an example
for them in the recently revealed story of the young men who had left their
people and taken refuge in God rather than submit to worshipping other
gods. And when the Prophet saw that although he escaped persecution
himself many of his followers did not, he said to them: "If ye went to the
country of the Abyssinians, ye would find there a king under whom none
suffereth wrong. It is a land of sincerity in religion. Until such time as God
shall make for you a means of relief from what ye now are suffering."^ So
some of his companions set off for Abyssinia; and this was the first
emigration in Islam.

' U.208.

XXVII

Abyssinia

THE emigrants were well received in Abyssinia, and were allowed
complete freedom of worship. In all, not counting the small children
they took with them, they were about eighty in number; but they did
not all go at the same time. Their flight was secretly planned and carried
out unobtrusively in small groups. Their families would and could have
stopped it, if they had known about it; but the move had been totally
unexpeaed, and they failed to realise what had happened until the
believers had all reached their destination. The leaders of Quraysh,
however, were none the less determined that they should not be left in
peace, to establish there, beyond their control, a dangerous community
which might be increased tenfold if other converts joined them. So they
speedily thought out a plan, and made ready a quantity of presents of a
kind that the Abyssinians were known to value most. Leatherwork they
prized above all, so a large number of fine skins were collected, enough to
make a rich bribe for every one of the Negus's generals. There were also
rich gifts for the Negus himself. Then they carefully chose two men, one of
whom was 'Amr ibn al-*As, of the clan of Sahm. Quraysh told them exactly
what to do: they were to approach each of the generals separately, give him
his present, and say: "Some foolish young men and women of our people
have taken refuge in this kingdom. They have left their own religion, not
for yours, but for one they have invented, one that is unknown to us and to
yourselves. The nobles of their people have sent us to your king on their
account, that he may send them home. So when we speak to him about
them, counsel him to deliver them into our hands and have no words with
them; for their people see best how it is with them," The generals all
agreed, and the two men of Quraysh took their presents to the Negus,
asking that the emigrants should be given into their hands and explaining
the reason as they had done to the generals, and finally adding: "The
nobles of their people, who are their fathers, their uncles and their
kinsmen, beg thee to restore them unto them." The generals were present
at the audience, and now with one voice they urged the Negus to comply
with their request and give up the refugees, inasmuch as kinsmen are the
best judges of the affairs of their kinsmen. But the Negus was displeased
and said: "Nay, by God, they shall not be betrayed - a people that have
sought my protection and made my country their abode and chosen me
above all others! Give them up I will not, until I have summoned them and
questioned them concerning what these men say of them. If it be as they
have said, then will I deliver them unto them, that they may restore them to

82 Muhammad

their own people. But if not, then will I be their good protector so long as
they seek my protection."

Then he sent for the companions of the Prophet, and at the same time he
assembled his bishops, who brought with them their sacred books and
spread them open round about the throne. *Amr and his fellow envoy had
hoped to prevent this meeting between the Negus and the refugees, and it
was indeed in their interests to prevent it, even more so than they realised.
For they were unaware that while the Abyssinians tolerated them for
commercial and political reasons they looked down on them as heathens
and were conscious of a barrier between them. They themselves were
Christians, many of them devout; they had been baptised, they worship-
ped the One God, and they carried in their flesh the sacrament of the
Eucharist. As such they were sensitive to the difference between the sacred
and the profane, and they were keenly conscious of the profanity of men
like *Amr. So much the more were they receptive — none more than the
Negus himself - to the impression of holy earnestness and depth which was
made on them by the company of believers who were now ushered into the
throne room, and a murmur of wonderment arose from the bishops and
others as they recognised that here were men and women more akin to
themselves than to such of Quraysh as they had previously encountered.
Moreover, most of them were young, and in many of them their piety of
demeanour was enhanced by a great natural beauty.

Not for all of them had the emigration been a necessity. *Uthman's
family had given up trying to make him recant, but the Prophet none the
less allowed him to go and to take with him Ruqayyah. Their presence was
a source of strength to the community of exiles. Another couple very
pleasing to look upon were Ja*far and his wife Asma'. They were well
protected by Abu Talib; but the refugees needed a spokesman and Ja'far
was an eloquent speaker. He was also most winning in his person, and the
Prophet said to him on one occasion: "Thou art like me in looks and in
character."^ It was Ja*far he had chosen to preside over the community of
exiles; and his qualities of attraction and intelligence were amply seconded
by Mus'ab of 'Abd ad-Dar, a young man whom the Prophet was later to
entrust with a mission of immense importance in virtue of his natural gifts.
Likewise remarkable was a young Makhzdmite known as Shammas,
whose mother was the sister of 'Utbah. His name, which means "deacon",
was given him because on one occasion Mecca had been visited by a
Christian dignitary of that rank, a man so exceptionally handsome as to
arouse general admiration, whereupon *Utbah had said "1 will show you a
shammas more beautiful than he," and he went and brought before them
his sister's son. Zubayr, Safiyyah's son; was also present, and there were
other cousins of the Prophet: Tulayb the son of Arwa; two sons of
Umaymah, 'Abd Allah ibn Jahsh and 'Ubayd Allah together with 'Ubayd
Allah's Umayyad wife Umm Habibah; and the two sons of Barrah, Abu
Salamah and Abu Sabrah, both with their wives. It is from the beautiful
Umm Salamah that most of the accounts of this first emigration have come
down.

> I.S.IV/i,Z4.

Abyssinia 83

When they were all assembled, the Negus spoke to them and said:
"What is this religion wherein ye have become separate from your people,
though ye have not entered my religion nor that of any other of the folk
that surround us?" And Ja'far answered him saying: "O King, we were a
people steeped in ignorance, worshipping idols, eating unsacrificed car-
rion, committing abominations, and the strong would devour the weak.
Thus we were, until God sent us a Messenger from out of our midst, one
whose lineage we knew, and his veracity and his worthiness of trust and his
integrity. He called us unto God, that we should testify to His Oneness and
worship Him and renounce what we and our fathers had worshipped in
the way of stones and idols; and he commanded us to speak truly, to fulfil
our promises, to respect the ties of kinship and the rights of our neigh-
bours, and to refrain from crimes and from bloodshed. So we worship God
alone, setting naught beside Him, counting as forbidden what He hath
forbidden and as licit what He hath allowed. For these reasons have our
people turned against us, and have persecuted us to make us forsake our
religion and revert from the worship of God to the worship of idols. That is
why we have come to thy country, having chosen thee above all others; and
we have been happy in thy protection, and it is our hope, O King, that here,
with thee, we shall not suffer wrong."

The royal interpreters translated all that he had said. The Negus then
asked if they had with them any Revelation that their Prophet had brought
them from God and, when Ja*far answered that they had, he said: "Then
recite it to me," whereupon Ja'far recited a passage from the Surah of
Mary, which had been revealed shortly before their departure:

And make mention of Mary in the Book, when she withdrew from her
people unto a place towards the east, and secluded herself from them;
and We sent unto her Our Spirit, and it appeared unto her in the likeness
of a perfect man. She said: I take refuge from thee in the Infinitely Good,
if any piety thou hast. He said: I am none other than a messenger from
thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a son most pure. She said: How can
there be for me a son, when no man hath touched me, nor am I unchaste f
He said: Even so shall it be; thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. That We
may make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us; and it is a thing
ordained.^

The Negus wept, and his bishops wept also, when they heard him recite,
and when it was translated they wept again, and the Negus said: "This
hath truly come from the same source as that which Jesus brought." Then
he turned to the two envoys of Quraysh and said: "Ye may go, for by God I
will not deliver them unto you; they shall not be betrayed."

But when they had withdrawn from the royal presence, *Amr said to his
companion: "Tomorrow I will tell him a thing that shall tear up this green
growing prosperity of theirs by the roots. I will tell him that they aver that
Jesus the son of Mary is a slave," So the next morning he went to the Negus
and said: "O King, they utter an enormous lie about Jesus the son of Mary.

1 XIX, 16-21.

84 Muhammad

Do but send to them, and ask them what they say of him." So he sent them
word to come to him again and to tell him what they said of Jesus,
whereupon they were troubled, for nothing of this kind had ever yet
befallen them. They consulted together as to what they should reply when
the question was put to them, though they all knew that they had no choice
but to say what God had said. So when they entered the royal presence, and
it was said to them: "What say ye of Jesus, the son of Mary?'' Ja*far
answered: "We say of him what our Prophet brought unto us, that he is the
slave of God and His Messenger and His Spirit and His Word which He
cast unto Mary the blessed virgin." The Negus took up a piece of wood and
said: "Jesus the son of Mary exceedeth not what thou hast said by the
length of this stick." And when the generals round him snorted, he added:
"For all your snorting." Then he turned to Ja'far and his companions and
said: "Go your ways, for ye are safe in my land. Not for mountains of gold
would I harm a single man of you"; and, with a movement of his hand
towards the envoys of Quraysh, he said to his attendant: "Return unto
these two men their gifts, for I have no use for them." So *Amr and the
other man went back ignominiously to Mecca.

Meantime the news of what the Negus had said about Jesus spread
among the people, and they were troubled and came out against him,
asking for an explanation, and accusing him of having left their religion.
He thereupon sent to Ja*far and his companions and made ready boats for
them and told them to embark and be ready to set sail if necessary. Then he
took a parchment and wrote on it: "He testifieth that there is no god but
God and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger and that Jesus
the son of Mary is His slave and His Messenger and His Spirit and His
Word which He cast unto Mary." Then he put it beneath his gown and
went out to his people who were assembled to meet him. And he said to
them: "Abyssinians, have I not the best claim to be your king.>" They said
that he had. "Then what fhink ye of my life amongst you?" "It hath been
the best of lives," they answered. "Then what is it that troubleth you?" he
said. "Thou hast left our religion," they said, "and hast maintained that
Jesus is a slave." "Then what say ye of Jesus?" he asked. "We say that he is
the son of God," they answered. Then he put his hand on his breast,
pointing to where the parchment was hidden, and testified to his belief in
"this", which they took to refer to their words.' So they were satisfied and
went away, for they were happy under his rule, and only wished to be
reassured; and the Negus sent word to Ja*far and his companions that they
could disembark and go back to their dwellings, where they went on living
as before, in comfort and security.

XXVIII

'IJmar

WHEN the two envoys returned to Mecca with the news that they
had been rebuffed and that the Muslims had been established in
the favour of the Negus, Quraysh were indignant and dismayed.
They immediately set about intensifying their repression and persecution
of the believers, largely under the direction of Abu Jahl, whose nephew
*Umar was one of the most violent and unrestrained in carrying out his
instructions. 'Umar was at this time about twenty-six years old, a head-
strong young man, not easily deterred, and of great resolution. But unlike
his uncle he was pious, and here in fact lay his chief motive for opposing the
new religion. Khattab had brought him up to venerate the Ka'bah and to
respect everything that had come to be inseparably connected with it in the
way of gods and goddesses. It was all woven together for him into a sacred
unity that was not to be questioned and still less tampered with. Quraysh
also had been one; but Mecca was now a city of two religions and two
communities. He saw clearly, moreover, that the trouble had one cause
only. Remove the man who was that cause, and everything would soon be
as it had been before. There was no other remedy, but that would be a
certain remedy. He continued to brood along these lines, and eventually
the day came - it was soon after the return of the unsuccessful envoys from
Abyssinia - when a sudden wave of anger goaded him to action, and taking
up his sword he set out from his house. No sooner had he left it than he
came face to face with Nu*aym ibn 'Abd Allah, one of his fellow clansmen.
Nu*aym had entered Islam, but he kept this a secret in fear of *Umar and
others of his people. The grim expression which he now saw on *Umar's
face prompted him to ask him where he was going. "I am going to
Muhammad, that renegade, who hath split Quraysh into two," said
*Umar, "and I shall kill him." Nu*aym tried to stop him by pointing out
that he himself would certainly be killed. But when he saw that *Umar was
deaf to such an argument he thought of another way by which he might at
least delay him, in time to give the alarm. This would mean betraying a
secret of fellow Muslims who, like himself, were concealing their Islam;
but he knew that they would forgive him, and even applaud him, in the
circumstances. "O *Umar," he said, "why not first go back to the people of
thine own house, and set them to rights." "What people of my house?"
said *Umar. "Thy brother-in-law Sa*id and thy sister Fatimah," said
Nu'aym. "They are both followers of Muhammad in his religion. On thy
head may it fall if thou let them be." Without a word 'Umar turned and
made straight for his sister's house. Now there was a poor confederate of

86 Muhammad

Zuhrah named Khabbab who often came to recite the Koran to Sa*id and
Fatimah; and he was with them at that moment with some written pages of
the Surah named Ta-Ha^ which had just been revealed and which they
were reading together. When they heard the voice of *Umar angrily calling
out his sister's name as he approached, Khabbab hid in a corner of the
house, and Fatimah took the manuscript and put it under her gown. But
'Umar had heard the sound of their reading, and when he came in he said to
them: "What was that jibbering I heard?" They tried to assure him he had
heard nothing. "Hear it I did," he said, "and I am told that ye both have
become followers of Muhammad." Then he set upon his brother-in-law
Sa'Id and grappled with him, and when Fatimah went to the defence of her
husband, 'Umar struck her a blow which broke the skin. "It is even so,"
they said, "we are Muslims and we believe in God and in His Messenger.
So do what thou wilt." Fatimah's wound was bleeding, and when 'Umar
saw the blood he was sorry for what he had done. A change came over him,
and he said to his sister: "Give me that script that I £ven now heard you
reading, that I may see what it is that Muhammad hath brought." Like
them, *Umar could read; but when he asked for the script she said, "We
fear to trust thee with it." "Fear not," he said, and, unbuckling his
sword-belt and laying down his sword, he swore by his gods that he would
give it back when he had read it. She could see that he was softened, and she
was filled with longing that he should enter Islam. "O my brother," she
said, "thou art impure in thine idolatry, and only the pure may touch it."
Thereupon *Umar went and washed himself, and she gave him the page on
which was written the opening of Ta~Hd. He began to read it, and when he
had read a passage he said: "How beautiful and how noble are these
words!" When Khabbab heard this he came out from his hiding-place and
said: " 'Umar, I have hope that God hath chosen thee through the prayer of
His Prophet, whom yesterday I heard pray: 'O God, strengthen Islam with
Abu 1-Hakam the son of Hisham or with 'Umar the son of Khattab !' " "O
Khabbab," said 'Umar, "where will Muhammad now be, that I may go to
him and enter Islam?" Khabbab told him that he was at the house of
Arqam near the Safa Gate with many of his companions; and 'Umar girt
on his sword again and went to §af a, knocked at the door of the house, and
said who he was. They had been warned by Nu'aym, so that his coming
was not unexpected, but they were struck by the subdued tone of his voice.
One of the companions went to the door and looked through a chink and
came back in some dismay. "O Messenger of God," he said, "it is indeed
'Umar and he is girt with his sword." "Let him come in," said Hamzah. "If
he hath come with good intent, we will give him a wealth of good; and if his
intent be evil, we will slay him with his own sword." The Prophet agreed
that he should be admitted and, advancing to meet him, he seized him by
the belt and pulled him into the middle of the room, saying: "What hath
brought thee here, O son of Khattab? I cannot see thee desisting until God
send down some calamity upon thee." "O Messenger of God," said 'Umar,
"I have come to thee that I may declare my faith in God, and in His
Messenger and in what he hath brought from God." ''Allahu Arkbar (God

» XX.

'Umar 87

is Most Great), said the Prophet, in such a way that every man and
woman in the house knew that *Umar had entered Islam; and they all
rejoiced/

There was no question of 'Umar's keeping his Islam secret. He wished to
tell everyone, in particular those who were most hostile to the Prophet. In
after years he used to say: "When I entered Islam that night, I thought to
myself: Which of the people in Mecca is the most violent in enmity against
God's Messenger, that I may go to him and tell him I have become a
Muslim? My answer was: Abu Jahl. So the next morning I went and
knocked at his door, and Abu Jahl came out and said: "The best of
welcomes to my sister's son! What hath brought thee here?" I answered: "I
came to tell thee that I believe in God and in His Messenger Muhammad;
and I testify to the truth of that which he hath brought." "God curse thee !"
he said, "and may His curse be on the tidings thou hast brought!" Then he
slammed the door in my face." ^

l.1. 227. ^ 1,1. 230.

XXIX

The Ban and its
Annulment

IT was not tolerable to *Umar that Quraysh should worship their gods
openly at the Ka'bah, while the believers worshipped God in secret. So
he used to pray in front of the Ka*bah and he would encourage other
Muslims to pray with him. Sometimes he and Hamzah would go with a
large body of the faithful to the sanctuary, and on such occasions the
leaders of Quraysh kept away. It would have been a loss of dignity for them
to stand by and let this happen, yet if they resisted they knew that *Umar
would stop at nothing. They were none the less determined not to allow
this young man to imagine that he had defeated them, and under pressure
from Abu Jahl they decided that the best solution would be to place an
interdiction on the whole clan of Hashim who, with the exception of Abu
Lahab, were resolved to protect their kinsman whether they believed him
to be a Prophet or not. A document was drawn up according to which it
was undertaken that no one would marry a woman of Hashim or give his
daughter in marriage to a man of Hashim; and no one was to sell anything
to them, or buy anything from them. This was to continue until the clan of
Hashim themselves outlawed Muhammad, or until he renounced his claim
to prophethood. No less than forty leaders of Quraysh set their seal to this
agreement though not all of them were equally in favour of it, and some of
them had to be won over. The clan of Muttalib refused to forsake their
Hashimite cousins, and they were included in the ban. The document was
solemnly placed inside the Ka'bah,

For the sake of mutual security the Bani Hashim gathered round Abu
Talib in that quarter of the hollow of Mecca where he and most of the clan
lived. At the arrival of the Prophet and KhadTjah with their household, Abu
Lahab and his wife moved away and went to live in a house which he
owned elsewhere, to demonstrate their solidarity with Quraysh as a whole.

The ban was not always rigorously enforced, nor was it possible to close
all the loopholes owing to the fact that a woman was still a member of her
own family after marrying into another clan. Abu Jahl was continually on
the watch, but he could not always impose his will. One day he met
Khadljah's nephew Hakim with a slave carrying a bag of flour, and they
appeared to be making for the dwellings of the Bani Hashim. He accused
them of taking food to the enemy and threatened to denounce Hakim

The Ban and its Annulment 89

before Quraysh. While they were arguing, Abu 1-Bakhtari, another man of
Asad, came and asked what was the matter, and when it was explained to
him he said to Abu Jahl: "It is his aunt's flour and she hath sent to him for
it. Let the man go on his way.'* Neither Hakim nor Abu 1-Bakhtari were
Muslims, but the passing of this bag of flour from one member of the clan
of Asad to another could concern no one outside that clan. The interfer-
ence of the Makhzumite was outrageous and intolerable; and when Abu
Jahl persisted Abu 1-Bakhtari picked up a camel's jawbone and brought it
down on his head with such force that he was half stunned and fell to the
ground, whereupon they trampled him heavily underfoot, to the gratifica-
tion of Hamzah who happened to come by at that moment.

Hakim was within his rights, but others simply defied the ban out of
sympathy for its victims. Hisham ibn 'Amr of 'Amir had no Hashimite
blood, but his family had close marriage connections with the clan; and
under cover of the night he would often bring a camel laden with food to
the entrance to Abu Talib's quarter. Then he would take off its halter and
strike it a blow on the flank so that it would go past their houses; and
another night he would load it with clothes and other gifts.

Apart from such help from unbelievers, the Muslims themselves of the
other clans, especially Abu Bakr and 'Umar, contrived various ways of
thwarting the interdiction. When two years had passed, Abu Bakr could no
longer be counted as a wealthy man. But despite such help there was
perpetual shortage of food amongst the two victimised clans, and some-
times the shortage bordered on famine.

During the sacred months, when they could leave their retreat and go
about freely without fear of being molested, the Prophet frequently went to
the Sanctuary, and the leaders of Quraysh took advantage of his presence
there to insult him and to satirise him. Sometimes when he recited
Revelations warning Quraysh of what had happened to former peoples,
Nadr of 'Abd ad-Dar would rise to his feet and say: "By God, Muhammad
is no better as a speaker than I am. His talk is but tales of the men of old.
They have been written out for him even as mine have been written out for
me." Then he would tell them tales of Rustum and Isfandiyar and the kings
of Persia, In this connection was revealed one of the many verses which
refer to the heart as the faculty by which man has sight of supernatural
realities. The eye of the heart, though closed in fallen man, is able to take in
a glimmering of light and this is faith. But an evil way of living causes a
covering like rust to accumulate over the heart so that it cannot sense
the Divine origin of God's Message: When Our Revelations are recited
unto him, he saith: Tales of the men of old. Nay, but their earnings are
even as rust over their hearts? As to the opposite state of this, the supreme
possibility of insight, the Prophet affirmed of himself on more than one
occasion that the eye of his heart was open even in sleep: "Mine eye
sleepeth, but my heart is awake.'"

Another Revelation, one of the very few that mentions by name any
contemporary of the Prophet, had now come affirming that Abu Lahab
and his wife were destined for Hell.^ Umm Jamil heard of this, and she went

' LXXXIII, 13-14. 2 I.I. 375; B. XIX, 16, etc. ' XCI.

90 Muhammad

to the Mosque with a stone pestle in her hand in search of the Prophet, who
was sitting with Abu Bakr. She came up to Abu Bakr and said to him:
"Where is thy companion?*' He knew that she meant the Prophet who was
there in front of her, and he was too amazed to speak. "I have heard," she
said, "that he hath lampooned me, and by God, if I had found him I would
have shattered his mouth with this pestle." Then she said: "As for me, I am
a poetess indeed," and she uttered a rhyme about the Prophet:

"We disobey the reprobate.

Flout the commands he doth dirtate,

And his religion hate.*'

When she had gone, Abu Bakr asked the Prophet if she had not seen him.
"She saw me not," he said. "God took away her sight from me." As to
"Reprobate" - in Arabic mudhammam, blamed, the exact opposite of
muhammad, praised, glorified - some of Quraysh had taken to calling him
that by way of revilement. He would say to his companions: "Is it not
wondrous how God turneth away from me the injuries of Quraysh? They
revile Mudhammam, whereas I am Muhammad."^

The ban on Hashim and Mu^talib had lasted two years or more and
showed no signs of having any of the desired effects. It had moreover the
undesired and unforeseen effect of drawing further attention to the
Prophet and of causing the new religion to be talked of more than ever
throughout Arabia. But independently of these considerations, many of
Quraysh began to have second thoughts about the ban, especially those
who had close relatives amongst its victims. The time had come for a
change of mind to take place, and the first man to act was that same
Hisham who had so often sent his camel with food and clothes for the
Hashimites. But he knew that he could achieve nothing by himself, so he
went to the Makhzumite Zuhayr, one of the two sons of the Prophet's aunt
*Atikah, and said to him: "Art thou content to eat food and wear clothes
and marry women when thou knowest how it is with thy mother's
kinsmen. They can neither buy nor sell, neither marry nor give in marriage;
and I swear by God that if they were the brethren of the mother of Abu
1-Hakam" - he meant Abu Jahl - "and thou hadst called upon him to do
what he hath called on thee to do, he would never have done it."
"Confound thee, Hisham," said Zuhayr. "What can I do? I am but a single
man. If I had with me another man, I would not rest until I had annulled
it." "I have found a man," said Hisham. "Who is he?" "Myself." "Find us
a third," said Zuhayr. So Hisham went to Mut'im ibn *AdI, one of the
leading men of the clan of Nawf al - a grandson of Nawfal himself, brother
of Hashim and Muttalib." "Is it thy will," he said, "that two of the sons of
*Abdu Manaf should perish whilst thou lookest on in approval of
Quraysh ? By God, if ye enable them to do this ye will soon find them doing
the like to you." Mut*im asked for a fourth man, so Hisham went to Abu
1-Bakhtari of Asad, the man who had struck Abu Jahl on account of
Khadljah's bag of flour, and when he asked for a fifth man Hisham went to

LI. Z34.

The Ban and its Annulment 9 1

another Asadite, Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad, who agreed to be the fifth without
asking for a sixth. They all undertook to meet that night at the outskirts of
Hajun, above Mecca, and there they agreed on their plan of action and
bound themselves not to let drop the matter of the document until they had
had it annulled. "I am the most nearly concerned," said Zuhayr, "so I will
be the first to speak. ' '

Early the next day they joined the gathering of the people in the Mosque
and Zuhayr, clad in a long robe, went round the Ka'bah seven times. Then
he turned to face the assembly and said: "O people of Mecca, are we to eat
food and wear clothes, while the sons of Hashim perish, unable to buy and
unable to sell? By God, I will not be seated until this iniquitous ban be torn
up." "Thou best!" said his cousin Abu Jahl. "It shall not be torn up."
"Thou art the better liar," said Zam^ah. "We were not in favour of its
being written, when it was written." "Zam'ah is right," said Abu 1-
Bakhtarl. "We are not in favour of what is written in it, neither do we hold
with it." "Ye are both right," said Mut/im, "and he that saith no is a liar.
We call God to witness our innocence of it and of what is written in it."
Hisham said much the same, and when Abu Jahl began to accuse them of
having plotted it all overnight, Mut*im cut him short by going into the
Ka*bah to fetch the document. He came out in triumph with a small piece
of vellum in his hand: the worms had eaten the ban, all but the opening
words *'In Thy Name, O God".

Most of Quraysh had been virtually won over already, and this unques-
tionable omen was a final and altogether decisive argument. Abu Jahl and
one or two like-minded men knew that it would be vain to resist. The ban
was formally revoked, and a body of Quraysh went to give the good news
to the Bani Hashim and the Bani 1-Muttalib.

There was much relief in Mecca after the ban was lifted, and for the
moment hostilities against the Muslims were relaxed. Exaggerated reports
of this soon reached Abyssinia, whereupon some of the exiles immediately
set about making preparations to return to Mecca while others, Ja'far
amongst them, decided to remain for a while where they were.

Meantime the leaders of Quraysh concentrated their efforts on trying to
persuade the Prophet to agree to a compromise. This was the nearest
approach they had yet made to him. Walid and other chiefs proposed that
they should all practise both religions. The Prophet was saved the trouble
of formulating his refusal by an immediate answer which came directly
from Heaven in a surah of six verses:

Say: O disbelievers, I shall not worship that which ye worship, nor will
ye worship that which I worship, nor have I worshipped that which ye
worship, nor have ye worshipped that which I worship. For you your
religion and for me mine}

As a result, the momentary good will had already much diminished by the
time the returning exiles reached the edge of the sacred precinct.

' CIX.

92 Muhammad

Except for Ja'far and 'Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh, all the Prophet's cousins
returned. With them came also 'Uthman and Ruqayyah. Another Shamsite
who returned with 'Uthman was Abu Hudhayfah. He could rely on his
father 'Utbah to protect him. But Abu Salamah and Umm Salamah could
hope for nothing but persecution from their own clan, so before they
entered Mecca Abu Salamah sent word to his Hashimite uncle Abu Talib,
asking for his protection which he agreed to give, much to the indignation
of Makhzum. "Thou hast protected from us thy nephew Muhammad,"
they said, "but why art thou protecting our own clansman?" "He is my
sister's son," said Abu Talib. "If I did not protect my sister's son, I could
not protect my brother's son." They had no choice but to allow him his
rights of chieftaincy. Moreover, on this occasion Abu Lahab supported his
brother, and Makhzum knew that he was one of their most powerful allies
against the Prophet, so they did not wish to offend him. For his part, he
perhaps regretted having manifested so clearly, at the time of the ban, the
implacable hatred which he felt for his nephew. Not that his hatred was
diminished in any sense; but he wished to be on better terms with his family
for the reason that after his elder brother's death he might normally hope
to take his place as chief of the clan; and it may be that he now saw in Abu
Talib signs that he had not much longer to live.

XXX

Paradise and
Eternity

4 NOTHER returned emigrant who required help against his own
LJL people was *Umar*s brother-in-law, 'Uthman ibn Maz*un of Jumah,
Jl v. for he knew well that his cousins Umayyah and Ubayy would
persecute him. This time it was Makhzum who safeguarded a man of
another clan: Walld himself took 'Uthman under his protection; but, when
'Uthman saw his fellow Muslims being persecuted while he remained safe,
he went to WalTd and renounced his protection. "Son of my brother," said
the old man, "hath any of my people harmed thee?" "Not so," said
'Uthman, "but I would have protection of God and I desire not the
protection of any but Him". So he went with Walid to the Mosque and
publicly absolved him of his protection.

Some days later it happened that the poet Labld was reciting to Quraysh,
and *Uthman was present at the large gathering which had assembled to
hear him. At a level somewhat higher than that of the general giftedness of
the Arabs for poetry, there were the many distinctly gifted poets like Abu
Talib and Hubayrah and Abu Sufyan the son of Harith. But beyond these
there were the few who were counted as great; and Labid was by common
consent one of them. He was perhaps the greatest living Arab poet, and
Quraysh felt privileged to have him amongst them. One of the verses he
now recited began:

"Lo, everything save God is naught"
"Thou hast spoken true," said 'Uthman. Labid went on:

"And all delights away shall vanish."
"Thou liest," exclaimed 'Uthman. "The delight of Paradise shall never
vanish." Labid was not accustomed to being interrupted; as to Quraysh,
they were not only astonished and outraged but also exceedingly embar-
rassed, for the poet was their guest. "O men of Quraysh," he said, "they
who sat with you as friends were never wont to be ill-treated. Since when is
this?" One of the gathering rose to proffer the tribe's excuses. "This man is
but a dolt," he said, "one of a band of dolts that have left our religion. Let
not thy soul be moved by what he saith." 'Uthman retorted with such '
vehemence that the speaker came and hit him over the eye, so that his brow
turned green; and Walid, who was sitting nearby, remarked to him that his
eve need never have suffered if he had remained under his protection.

94 Muhammad

"Nay," said *Uthman, "my good eye is indeed a pauper for want of what
hath befallen her sister in the way of God, I am under His protection who is
mightier and more determining than thou." "Come, son of my brother,"
said WalTd, "renew thy pact with me." But 'Uthman declined.

The Prophet was not present at the gathering. But he heard of the poem
of Labid and of what had ensued. His only recorded comment was: "The
truest word that poet ever spake is: "Lo, everything save God is naught."^
He did not blame LabId for the words which immediately followed. The
poet could be credited with meaning that "all earthly delights away shall
vanish"; and on the other hand, all Paradises and Delights which are
Eternal can be thought of as included in God or in the Face of God. There
had come, about this time, the Revelation: Everything perisheth but His
Face^ and in an earlier Revelation are the words: Eternal is the Face of thy
Lord in Its Majesty and Bounty? Where this Eternal Bounty is, there its
recipients must be, and also their delights.

There now came a more explicit Revelation which contained the
following passage. The first verse refers to the Judgement: On the day
when it cometh no soul shall speak but by His leave, wretched some, and
others blissful. As for the wretched, in the Fire shall they be, to sigh and to
wail is their portion, abiding therein as long as heaven and earth endure,
except as God will. Verily thy Lord is ever the doer of what He will. And as
for the blissful, in the Garden shall they be, abiding therein as long as
heaven and earth endure, except as God will - a gift that shall not be taken
away. ^

The closing words show that it is not the Divine Will that the gift of
Paradise to man after the Judgement shall be taken away from him as was
his first Paradise. Other questions relating to this passage were answered
by the Prophet himself, who continually spoke to his followers about the
Resurrection, the Judgement, Hell and Paradise. On one occasion he said:
"God, who bringeth whom He will into His Mercy, shall enter into
Paradise the people of Paradise, and into Hell the people of Hell. Then will
He say (to the Angels) : 'Look for him in whose heart ye can find faith of the
weight of a grain of mustard seed, and take him out of Hell' . . . Then they
will take out a multitude of mankind and will say: *Our Lord, we have left
therein not one of those whereof Thou didst command us', and He will
say: 'Return and take out him in whose heart ye find an atom's weight of
good.' Then will they take out a multitude of mankind and will say: 'Our
Lord, no goodness have we left therein.' Then will the Angels intercede,
and the Prophets and the believers. Then will God say: 'The angels have
interceded, and the prophets have interceded, and the believers have
interceded. There remaineth only the intercession of the Most Merciful of
the merciful.' And He will take out from the fire those who did no good and
will cast them into a river at the entrance to Paradise which is called the
River of Life." ^

And of those in Paradise the Prophet said: "God will say to the people of
Paradise: 'Are ye well pleased?' and they will say: 'How should we not be

' B.LXIII,26. ^ XXVII1,88. ' LV, 27.
* XI, 105-8. ' M.I,79;B.XCVII,24.

Paradise and Eternity 9 5

well pleased, O Lord, inasmuch Thou hast given us that which Thou hast
not given to any of thy creatures else?' Then will He say: *Shall I not give
you better than that?', and they will say: *What thing, O Lord, is better?'
and He will say: *I will let down upon you My Ridwdn,^^^^ The ultimate
beatitude of Ridwdn, sometimes translated "Good Pleasure", is inter-
preted to mean God's final and absolute acceptance of a soul and His
taking of that soul to Himself and His Eternal Good Pleasure therein.
This supreme Paradise must not be taken as excluding what is known as
Paradise in the usual sense, since the Koran promises that for .each blessed
soul there will be two Paradises,^ and in speaking of his own state in the
Hereafter the Prophet likewise spoke of it as a twofold blessing, "the
meeting with my Lord, and Paradise".^

' M.Ll,z. 2 IV, 46. ' U.1000.

XXXI

The Year of
Sadness

IN the year ad 619, not long after the annulment of the ban, the Prophet
suffered a great loss in the death of his wife Khadijah. She was about
sixty-five years old and he was nearing fifty. They had lived together in
profound harmony for twenty-five years, and she had been not only his
wife but also his intimate friend, his wise counsellor, and mother to his
whole household including 'All and Zayd. His four daughters were
overcome with grief, but he was able to comfort them by telling them that
Gabriel had once come to him and told him to give Khadijah greetings of
Peace from her Lord and to tell her that He had prepared for her an abode
in Paradise.

Another loss followed closely upon the death of Khadijah, a loss less
great and less penetrating in itself, but at the same time less consolable and
more serious in its outward consequences. Abu Talib fell ill, and it soon
became clear that he was dying. On his deathbed he was visited by a group
of the leaders of Quraysh - 'Utbah and Shaybah and Abu Sufyan of *Abdu
Shams, Umayyah of Jumah, Abu Jahl of Makhziim and others - and they
said to him: "Abu Talib, thou knowest the esteem we have for thee; and
now this that thou seest hath come upon thee, and we fear for thee. Thou
knowest what is between us and thy brother's son. So call him to thee, and
take for him a gift from us, and take for us a gift from him, that he should
let us be, and we will let him be. Let him leave us and our religion in peace,"
So Abu Talib sent to him, and when he came he said to him: "Son of my
brother, these nobles of thy people have come together on account of thee,
to give and to take." "So be it," said the Prophet. "Give me one word - a
word by which ye shall rule over the Arabs, and the Persians shall be your
subjects." "Yea, by thy father," said Abu Jahl, "for that we will give thee
one word, and ten words more." "Ye must say," said the Prophet, ''there is
no god but God, and ye must renounce what ye worship apart from Him."
They clapped their hands and said: "Wouldst thou, O Muhammad, make
the gods one god? Thy bidding is strange indeed!" Then they said to each
other: "This man will give you nothing of what ye ask, so go your ways and
keep to the religion of your fathers until God judge between you and him."

When they had gone, Abu Talib said to the Prophet: "Son of my brother,
thou didst not, as I saw it, ask of them anything out of the way." These

The Year of Sadness 97

words filled the Prophet with longing that he should enter Islam. "Uncle,"
he said, "say thou the words, that through them I may intercede for thee on
the day of the Resurrection." "Son of my brother," he said, "if I did not
fear that Quraysh would think I had but said the words in dread of death,
then would I say them. Yet would my saying them be but to please thee."
Then, when death drew near to Abu f aUb, 'Abbas saw him moving his lips
and he put his ear close to him and listened and then he said: "My brother
hath spoken the words thou didst bid him speak." But the Prophet said: "I
heard him not."

It was now becoming difficult in Mecca for almost all those who had no
official protection. Before he joined the Prophet Abu Bakr had been a man
of considerable influence, but unlike 'Umar and Hamzah, he was not a
dangerous man in himself and therefore did not inspire fear except in those
who had learned to esteem him for spiritual reasons; and when his Islam
set a barrier between himself and the leaders of Quraysh his influence with
them decreased almost to nothing, just as it increased within the commun-
ity of the new religion. For Abu Bakr the situation was, moreover,
aggravated by his being known to be responsible for many conversions;
and it may have been partly in revenge for the Islam of Aswad the son of
Nawfal that one day Nawfal himself, Khadijah*s half-brother, organised
an attack on Abu Bakr and Talhah, who were left lying in the public
highway, bound hand and foot and roped together. Nor did any of the men
of Taym intervene against the men of Asad, which suggests that they had
disowned their two leading Muslim clansmen.

There may have been other incidents also. Abu Bakr was on increasingly
bad terms with BilaPs former master Umayyah, the chief of Jumah,
amongst whom he lived; and the time came when he felt he had no
alternative but to emigrate. Having obtained permission of the Prophet, he
set out to join those who had remained in Abyssinia. But before he had
reached the Red Sea, he was met by Ibn ad-Dughunnah, at that time the
head of a small group of confederate tribes not far from Mecca, allies of
Quraysh. This Bedouin chief had known Abu Bakr well in his days of
affluence and influence, yet now he had the appearance of a wandering
hermit. Amazed at the change, he questioned him. "My people have
ill-treated me," said Abu Bakr, "and driven me out, and all I seek is to
travel over the face of the earth, worshipping God." "Why have they done
this?" said Ibn ad-Dughunnah. "Thou art as an ornament to thy clan, a
help in misfortune, a doer of right, ever fulfilling the needs of others.
Return, for thou art beneath my protection." So he took him back to
Mecca and spoke to the people, saying: "Men of Quraysh, I have given my
protection to the son of Abu Quhafah, so let no one treat him other than
well." Quraysh confirmed the protection and promised that Abu Bakr
should be safe, but at the instigation of the Bani Jumah they said to his
protector: "Tell him to worship his Lord within doors, and to pray and
recite what he will there, but tell him not to cause us trouble by letting it be
seen and heard, for his appearance is striking and he hath with him a way,
so that we fear lest he seduce our sons and our women." Ibn ad-
Dughunnah told this to Abu Bakr, and for a while he prayed only in his

9 8 Muhammad

house and made there his recitations of the Koran; and for a while the
tension was relaxed between him and the leaders of the Bani Jumah. Abu
Talib was succeeded by Abu Lahab as chief of Hashim; but the protection
that Abu Lahab gave his nephew was merely nominal, and the Prophet was
ill-treated as never before. On one occasion a passer-by leaned over his
gate and tossed a piece of putrifying offal into his cooking pot; and once
when he was praying in the courtyard of his house, a man threw over him a
sheep's uterus filthy v^th blood and excrement. Before disposing of it, the
Prophet picked up the object on the end of a stick and said, standing at his
gate: "O sons of *Abdu Manaf, what protection is this?" He had seen that
the offender was the Shamsite *Uqbah,^ stepfather of *Uthman, Ru-
qayyah*s husband. On another occasion, when the Prophet was coming
from the Ka'bah, a man took a handful of dirt and threw it in his face and
over his head. When he returned home one of his daughters washed him
clean of it, weeping the while, "Weep not, little daughter," he said, "God
will protect thy father."

It was then that he decided to seek help from Thaqif, the people of Ta'if
- a decision which eloquently reflected the apparent gravity of his situation
in Mecca. For except that truth can conquer all things, what indeed could
be hoped for fi-om Thaqif, the guardians of the temple of the goddess
al-Lat, whose shrine they Hked to think of as comparable to the House of
God? There must however be exceptions in Ta'if as there were in Mecca,
and the Prophet was not without hope as he rode up from the desert
towards the welcoming orchards and gardens and cornfields which were
the outskirts of the walled city. On his arrival he went straight to the house
of three brothers who were the leaders of Thaqif at that time, the sons of
*Amr ibn Umayyah, the man whom Walid looked on as his own counter-
part in Ta'if, the second of "the two great men of the two townships". But
when the Prophet asked them to accept Islam and help him against his
opponents, one of them immediately said: "If God sent thee, I will tear
down the hangings of the Ka*bah!", and another said: "Could God find
none but thee to send?" As for the third, he said: "Let me never speak to
thee! For if thou art a Messenger from God as thou sayest, then art thou
too great a personage for me to address; and if thou liest, it is not fitting
that I should speak to thee." So the Prophet rose to leave them, perhaps
intending to try elsewhere in Ta'if; but when he had left them, they stirred
up their slaves and retainers to insult him and shout at him, until a crowd
of people were gathered together against him and he was forced to take
refuge in a private orchard. Once he had entered it the crowd began to
disperse, and, tethering his camel to a palm tree, he made for the shelter of
a vine and sat in its shade.

When he felt himself to be in safety and at peace, he prayed: *'0 God,
unto Thee do I complain of my weakness, of my helplessness, and of my
lowliness before men. O Most Merciful of the merciful, Thou art Lord of
the weak. And Thou art my Lord. Into whose hands wilt Thou entrust me?
Unto some far off stranger who will ill-treat me? Or unto a foe whom Thou

' He was the second husband of 'Uthman's mother Arwa, the Prophet's cousin, named
after their aunt Arw^, the mother of Tulayb .

The Year of Sadness 99

hast empowered against me? I care not, so Thou be not wroth with me. But
Thy favouring help - that were for me the broader way and the wider
scope! I take refuge in the Light of Thy Countenance whereby all dark-
nesses are illuminated and the things of this world and the next are rightly
ordered, lest Thou make descend Thine anger upon me, or lest Thy wrath
beset me. Yet is it Thine to reproach until Thou art well pleased. There is
no power and no might except through Thee."^

The place where the Prophet had found peace was not as empty as it had
seemed. Every man of Quraysh hoped for riches enough to buy a garden
and a house on the green hill of Ta'if to which he might escape when the
heat of Mecca was at its fiercest, and this orchard was not owned by a man
of Thaqif but was part of a property that belonged to the Shamsite leaders
*Utbah and Shaybah, who were even now seated in a corner of their garden
adjoining the vineyard. They had seen what had happened, nor were they
without feelings of indignation at the way in which the rabble of Thaqif
had ventured to treat a man of Quraysh, who was, moreover, like
themselves, of the sons of 'Abdu Manaf. As to the differences which had
come between them, were not these now almost at an end? They had last
seen Muhammad at the deathbed of Abu Talib; and now he was without a
protector, and clearly in desperate straits. Feeling they could afford to be
generous, they called a young Christian slave of theirs named 'Addas, and
said to him: "Take a cluster of these grapes and put them on this platter.
Then give it to that man, and bid him eat thereof." *Addas did as they had
ordered, and when the Prophet put his hand to the grapes he said: **In the
name of God." 'Addas looked keenly into his face; then he said: "Those
words are not what the people of this country say." "From what country
art thou?" said the Prophet. "And what is thy religion?" "I am a
Christian," he said, "of the people of Nineveh." "From the city of the
righteous man Jonah, the son of Matta," said the Prophet. "How knowest
thou aught of Jonah the son of Matta?" said 'Addas. "He is my brother,"
was the answer. "He was a Prophet, and I am a Prophet." Then 'Addas
bent over him and kissed his head and his hands and his feet.

When they saw this, the two brothers exclaimed, each to the other, as if
with one voice: "So much for thy slave! Already hath he been corrupted!"
And when 'Addas came back to them, leaving the Prophet to eat in peace,
they said: "Out upon thee, *Addas! What made thee kiss that man's head
and his hands and his feet?" He answered: "Master, there is nothing on
earth better than this man. He hath told me of things that only a Prophet
could know." "Out upon thee, 'Addas!" they said. "Let him not seduce
thee from thy religion, for thy religion is better than his."

The Prophet left Ta'if and started on his way towards Mecca when he
saw that no good was to be gained at this juncture from the tribe of Thaqif.
Late that night he reached the valley of Nakhlah, the half-way halt
between the two townships which had rejected him. At the moment of his
sharpest consciousness of this rejection, his prophethood had been ac-
knowledged by a man from far-off Nineveh; and now, while he was
standing in prayer at Nakhlah, a company of the jinn passed by - seven

I.1. 280.

100 Muhammad

jinn from Nasibin - and they stopped spellbound by the words he was
reciting from the Koran. The Prophet knew that he had not been sent to the
world of men only. The Revelation had recently affirmed: We sent thee not
save as a mercy for the worlds;^ and one of the earlier Surahs^ is addressed
to the jinn as well as to men, warning them both of Hell as a punishment
for evil and promising Paradise to both as a reward for piety. There now
came the Revelation: Say: it hath been revealed unto me that a company of
the jinn gave ear, and then said: Verily we have heard a wondrous
recitation which guideth unto rightness, and we believe in it? And another
Revelation"^ told how the jinn thereupon returned to their community and
urged them to respond to God's summoner, as they called the Prophet.

The Prophet was unwilling to return to the same conditions which only
two days previously had impelled him to leave his home. But if he had a
protector, he could continue to fulfil his mission. The Bani Hashim had
failed him, so his thoughts turned to his mother^s clan. The situation there
was abnormal, for by far the most outstanding and influential man of
Zuhrah was Akhnas ibn Shariq, who was not strictly speaking a member
of the clan, nor even of Quraysh. He was in fact of Thaqif, but he had long
been a confederate of Zuhrah, and they had come to consider him as their
chief. The Prophet had already decided to ask for his help, when he was
overtaken by a horseman also on his way to Mecca but travelling faster
than himself, so he asked him to do him the favour of going, on his arrival,
to Akhnas and of saying to him: "Muhammad saith: Wilt thou give me thy
protection, that I may deliver the message of my Lord?" The horseman was
well disposed, arid even undertook to return with the answer, which
proved to be negative, for Akhnas simply remarked that a confederate had
no power to speak in the name of the clan with which he was federated and
to grant a protection which would be binding upon them. The Prophet,
who was by this time not far from Mecca, now sent the same request to
Suhayl. His reply was equally disappointing, though the reason he ad-
vanced for his refusal had nothing to do with his opposition to Islam. It
was once more a question of tribal principle. In the Hollow of Mecca his
clan was distinct from all the rest as being descended from * Amir the son of
Lu*ayy,^ whereas the others were all descended from *Amir's brother Ka*b.
Suhayl simply replied that the sons of * Amir do not give protection against
the sons of Ka'b. The Prophet now turned aside from the way that led to
the city, and took refuge in the cave of Mount Hira' where he had received
the first Revelation. From there he sent his petition to a leader more closely
related to himself, Mut*im, the chief of Nawfal, one of the five who had
organised the annulment of the ban, and Mut/im immediately agreed. "Let
him enter the city," he sent back word; and the next morning, fully armed,
together with his sons and his nephews, he escorted the Prophet to the
Ka*bah. Abu Jahl asked them if they had become followers of Mu-
hammad. "We are giving him protection," they replied; and the Makhzu-
mite could only say: "Whom ye protect, to him we give protection."

' XXI, 107. ^ LV. ' LXXn,i-2. * XLVI,30-i.
* See the genealogical tree, p. 3 47-

XXXII

"The Light of
Thy Countenance"

FA TIM AH, the widow of Abu Talib, had entered Islam, either before
or after her husband's death, and so had her daughter Umm Hani',
the sister of 'All and Ja'far; but Umm Hani'*s husband Hubayrah
was altogether impervious to the message of God's Oneness. He none the
less made the Prophet welcome when he came to their house, and if it was
the time for a prayer during one of these visits the Muslims of the
household would pray together. On one occasion, when they had all
prayed the night prayer behind the Prophet, Umm Hani' invited him to
spend the night with them. He accepted her invitation; but after a brief
sleep he rose and went to the Mosque, for he loved to visit the Ka'bah
during the night hours. While he was there, the desire to sleep came over
him again, and he lay down in the Hijr.

"Whilst I was sleeping in the Hijr," he said, "Gabriel came to me and
spurred me with his foot whereupon I sat upright, yet I saw nothing and lay
down once again. A second time he came; and a third time, and then he
took me by the arm and I rose and stood beside him, and he led me out to
the gate of the Mosque, and there was a white beast, between a mule and
an ass, with wings at his sides wherewith he moved his legs; and his every
stride was as far as his eye could see."'

The Prophet then told how he mounted Buraq, for so the beast was
named; and with the Archangel at his side, pointing the way and measur-
ing his pace to that of the heavenly steed, they sped northwards beyond
Yathrib and beyond Khaybar, until they reached Jerusalem. Then they
were met by a company of Prophets - Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others -
and when he prayed on the site of the Temple, they gathered together
behind him in prayer. Then two vessels were brought before him and
offered him, one of wine the other of milk. He took the vessel of milk and
drank from it, but left the vessel of wine, and Gabriel said: "Thou hast
been guided unto the path primordial, and hast guided thereunto thy
people, O Muhammad, and wine is forbidden you."

Then, as had happened to others before him - to Enoch and Elijah and
Jesus and Mary - Muhammad was taken up out of this life to Heaven.

I.1. 264.

loz Muhammad

From the rock in the centre of the site of the Temple he again mounted
Buraq, who moved his wings in upward flight and became for his rider as
the chariot of fire had been for Elijah. Led by the Archangel, who now
revealed himself as a heavenly being, they ascended beyond the domain of
earthly space and time and bodily forms, and as they passed through the
seven Heavens he met again those Prophets with whom he had prayed in
Jerusalem; But there they had appeared to him as they had been during
their life on earth, whereas now he saw them in their celestial reality, even
as they now saw him, and he marvelled at their transfiguration. Of Joseph
he said that his face had the splendour of the moon at its full,^ and that he
had been endowed with no less than the half of all existing beauty.^ Yet this
did not diminish Muhammad's wonderment at his other brethren, and he
mentioned in particular the great beauty of Aaron.^ Of the Gardens that he
visited in the different Heavens he said afterwards: "A piece of Paradise the
size of a bow is better than all beneath the sun, whereon it riseth and
setteth; and if a woman of the people of Paradise appeared unto the people
of earth, she would fill the space between Heaven and here below with light
and with fragrance,"'* Everything he now saw, he saw with the eye of the
Spirit; and of his spiritual nature, with reference to the beginnings of all
earthly nature, he said: "I was a Prophet when Adam was yet between
water and clay."^

The summit of his ascent was the Lote Tree of the Uttermost End. So it is
named in the Koran, and, in one of the oldest commentaries, based on the
sayings of the Prophet, it is said: ''The Lote Tree is rooted in the Throne,
and it marks the end of the knowledge of every knower, be he Archangel or
Prophet-Messenger. All beyond it is a hidden mystery, unknown to any
save God Alone."* At this summit of the universe Gabriel appeared to him
in all his archangelic splendour, even as he was first created.^ Then, in the
words of the Revelation: When there enshrouded the Lote Tree that which
enshroudeth, the eye wavered not nor did it transgress. Verily he beheld^ of
all the signs of his Lord, the greatest J According to the commentary, the
Divine Light descended upon the Lote Tree and enshrouded it and all else
beside, and the eye of the Prophet beheld it without wavering and without
turning aside from it.' Such was the answer - or one of the answers - to
the supplication implicit in his words: "I take refuge in the Light of Thy
Countenance."

At the Lote Tree the Prophet received for his people the command of fifty
prayers a day; and it was then^° that he received the Revelation which
contains the creed of Islam: The messenger believeth, and the faithful
believe, in what hath been revealed unto him from his Lord. Each one
believeth in God and His angels and His books and His messengers: we
made no distinction between any of His messengers. And they say: we hear
and we obey; grant us. Thou our Lord, Thy forgiveness; unto Thee is the
ultimate becoming^^

They made their descent through the seven Heavens even as they had

' I.L270. ' A.H.III,z86. ' LI.Z70. * B.L.VI,6.

J Tir.XLVI,i;A.H.IV,66. * Tab., Ttf/iir, LIII.

7 M.I,i8o;B.LIX,7. « LII,i6_i8.

' Tab.,Ttf/srr,LIII. i» M.I, 280. " 11,285,

"The Light of Thy Countenance" 103

ascended. The Prophet said: *'On my return, when I passed Moses - and
what a good friend he was unto you! - he asked me: 'How many prayers
have been laid upon thee?' I told him fifty prayers every day and he said:
'The congregational prayer is a weighty thing, and thy people are weak.
Return unto thy Lord, and ask Him to lighten the load for thee and thy
people.' So I returned and asked my Lord to make it Hghter, and He took
away ten. Then I passed Moses again, and he repeated what he had said
before, so I returned again, and ten more prayers were taken from me. But
every time I returned unto Moses he sent me back until finally all the
prayers had been taken from me except five for each day and night. Then I
returned unto Moses, but still he said the same as before; and I said: 'I
have returned unto my Lord and asked Him until I am ashamed. I will not
go again.' And so it is that he who performeth the five in good faith and in
trust of God's bounty, unto him shall be given the meed of fifty prayers."'

When the Prophet and the Archangel had made their descent to the Rock
at Jerusalem, they returned to Mecca the way they had come, overtaking
many southbound caravans. It was still night when they reached the
Ka'bah. From there the Prophet went again to the house of his cousin. In
her words: "A little before dawn the Prophet woke us, and when we had
prayed the dawn prayer, he said: 'O Umm Hani', I prayed with you the last
evening prayer in this valley as thou sawest. Then went I to Jerusalem and
there prayed; and now have I prayed with you the morning prayer as thou
seest.' He rose to go, and I seized his robe wth such force that it came away,
laying bare his belly, as if it had been but cotton cloth draped round him.
'O Prophet of God,' I said. Tell not the people this, for they will give thee
the lie and insult thee.' 'By God, I will tell them,' he said."^

He went to the Mosque and told those whom he met there of his journey
to Jerusalem. His enemies were immediately triumphant, for they now felt
they had an irrefutable cause for mockery. Every child of Quraysh knew
that a caravan takes a month to go from Mecca to Syria and a month to
return. And now Muhammad claimed to have gone there and back in one
night. A group of men went to Abu Bakr and said: "What thinkest thou
now of thy friend ? He telleth us he went last night to Jerusalem and prayed
there and then returned to Mecca." Abu Bakr accused them of lying, but
they assured him that Muhammad was in the Mosque at that moment,
speaking about this journey. "If so he saith," said Abu Bakr, "then it is
true. And where is the wonder of it? He telleth me that tidings come to him
from Heaven to earth in one hour of the day or night, and I know him to be
speaking the truth. And that is beyond what ye cavil at."^He then went to
the Mosque to repeat his confirmation "If so he saith, then it is true," and it
was for this that the Prophet gave him the name as-Siddtq^ which means
"the great witness of truth" or "the great confirmer of the truth".
Moreover, some of those who had found the story incredible began to have
second thoughts, for the Prophet described the caravans he had overtaken
on the way home and said where they were and about when they might be
expected to arrive in Mecca; and each arrived as predicted, and the details
were as he had described. To those in the Mosque he spoke only of his

* LI. 271. 2 u.;i67. J I.L265,

104 Muhammad

journey to Jerusalem, but when he was alone with Abu Bakr and others of
his Companions he told them of his ascent through the seven Heavens,
telling them a part of what he had seen, with more to be recounted later
over the years, often in answer to questions.

XXXIII

After the Year of
Sadness

IN the year which followed the Year of Sadness, the Pilgrimage fell at
the beginning of June; and on the Feast of the Sacrifices the Prophet
went to the valley of Mina where the pilgrims camp for three days. It
had been his practice now for several years to visit the various groups of
tents and to declare his message to any who would listen, reciting for them
such verses of the Revelations as he felt moved to recite. The nearest point
of Mina to Mecca is 'Aqabah, where the road rises up steeply from the
valley towards the hills in the direction of the holy city: and it was this year
at 'Aqabah that he came upon six men of the tribe of Khazraj, from
Yathrib. He did not know any of the six, but they had all heard of him and
of his claim to prophethood, and as soon as he told them who he was their
faces lit up with interest, and they listened to him attentively. Every man of
them was familiar with the threat of their neighbours, the Yathrib Jews:
"A Prophet is now about to be sent. We will follow him and we will slay
you as 'Ad and 'Iram were slain"; and when the Prophet had finished
speaking, they said to each other: "This is indeed the Prophet that the Jews
promised us would come. Let them not be the first to reach him!*' Then,
after one or two questions had been asked and answered, each of the six
men testified to the truth of the Prophet's message and promised to fulfil
the conditions of Islam which he laid before them. "We have left our
people," they said, "for there is no people so torn asunder by enmity and
evil as they; and it may be that God will unite them through thee. We will
now go to them and summon them to accept thy religion even as we have
accepted it; and if God gather them together about thee, then no man will
be mightier than thou."'

The Prophet continued to visit Abu Bakr regularly at his house amongst
the dwellings of the Bani Jumah. These visits were a memorable feature of
the childhood of 'A'ishah, Abu Bakr's younger daughter. She could not
remember a time when her father and mother were not Muslims, and when
the Prophet was not a daily visitor to them.
During this same year that followed Khadljah's death, the Prophet

' LI. 287.

io6 Muhammad

dreamed that he saw a man who was carrying someone wrapped in a piece
of silk. The man said to him: 'This is thy wife, so uncover her." The
Prophet Hfted the silk and there was 'A'ishah. But 'A'ishah was only six
years old, and he had passed his fiftieth year. Moreover Abu Bakr had
promised her to Mut*im for his son Jubayr. The Prophet simply said to
himself: "If this be from God, He will bring it to pass."^ A few nights later
he saw in his sleep an Angel carrying the same bundle of silk, and this time
it was he who said to the Angel: "Show me." The Angel lifted the silk and
there, again, was 'A'ishah, and again the Prophet said: "If this be from
God, He will bring it to pass."^

As yet he mentioned these dreams to no one, not even to Abu Bakr. But
now there came a third confirmation, of a different kind. Khawlah, the
wife of 'Uthman ibn Maz*un, had been very attentive to the various needs
of the Prophet's household ever since Khadijah's death; and one day when
she was in his house she suggested to him that he should take another wife.
When he asked her whom he should marry, she said: "Either 'A'ishah the
daughter of Abii Bakr or Sawdah the daughter of Zam'ah." Sawdah, the
cousin and sister-in-law of Suhayl,^ was now a widow, aged about thirty.
Her first husband, Sakran, Suhayl's brother, had taken her with him to
Abyssinia, and they had been among the first to return to Mecca. Not long
after their return Sakran had died.

The Prophet told Khawlah to seek to arrange his marriages to both the
brides she had suggested. Sawdah's answer was: "I am at thy service, O
Messenger of God," and the Prophet sent back word saying: "Bid a man of
thy people give thee in marriage." She chose her brother-in-law Hatib,
who by this time had also returned from Abyssinia, and he gave her in
marriage to the Prophet.

Meantime Abu Bakr approached Mut'im, who was persuaded without
difficulty to forgo the marriage of 'A'ishah to his son; and, some months
after the marriage of Sawdah, 'A'ishah also became the Prophet's wife,
through a marriage contracted by him and her father, at which she herself
was not present. She said afterwards that she had had her first inkling of
her new status when one day she was playing with her friends outside, not
far from their house, and her mother came and took her by the hand and
led her indoors, telling her that henceforth she niust not go out to play, and
that her friends must come to her instead. 'A'ishah dimly guessed the
reason, though her mother did not immediately tell her that she was
married; and apart from having to play in their courtyard instead of in
the road, her life continued as before.

About this time Abu Bakr decided to have a small mosque built in front
of his house. It was surrounded by walls, but open to the sky, and there he
would pray and recite the Koran. But the walls were not high enough to
prevent passers-by from looking over them, and often a number of people
would stand there and listen to his recitation, while at the same time they
would see something of his reverence for the revealed Book, which moved
him to the depth of his being. Umayy ah now feared that the number of Abu
Bakr's converts would be still further increased, and at his instance the

B.XCI,20. ^ ibid. ' See p. 72 ff.

After the Year of Sadness 107

leaders of Quraysh sent a deputation to Ibn ad-Dughunnah, reminding
him of what they had said at the outset of his protection, and pointing out
that the walls of Abu Bakr's mosque were not sufficient to make it part of
his house. "If he will worship his Lord within doors, then let him do so,"
they said, "yet if he must needs do it openly, then bid him absolve thee of
thy protection of him." But Abu Bakr refused to give up his mosque, and he
formally absolved Ibn ad-Dughunnah of his pact, saying: "I am content
with the protection of God."

It was on that very day that the Prophet announced to him and to others
of his Companions: "I have been shown the place of your emigration: I
saw a well watered land^ rich in date palms, between two tracts of black
stones.'"

1 B. XXXVII 7.

XXXIV

Yathrib Responsive

'ORN asunder by enmity and evil." In so describing their

people, the six recent converts of Yathrib had not exaggerated.

JL The battle of Bu'ath, the fourth and most savage conflict of the

civil war, had not been altogether decisive; nor had it been followed by any
peace worthy of the name but merely by an agreement to stop fighting for
the moment. The dangerously prolonged state of chronic bitterness
fraught with an increasing number of incidents of violence had won over
many of the more moderate men of both sides to the opinion that they
needed an overall chief who would unite them as Qusayy had united
Quraysh, and that there was no other solution to their problem. One of the
leading men of the oasis, *Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, was favoured by many as a
possible king. He had not fought against Aws in the recent conflict but had
withdrawn his men on the eve of the battle. He was none the less of
Khazraj; and it was exceedingly doubtful whether Aws would be capable
of accepting a king who was not of their tribe.

The six men of Khazraj delivered the message of Islam to as many of
their people as would listen to them; and the next summer, that is, in ad
621, five of them repeated their Pilgrimage, bringing with them seven
others, two of whom were of Aws. At ' Aqabah, these twelve men pledged
themselves to the Prophet, and this pledge is known as the First *Aqabah.
In the words of one of them: "We pledged our allegiance to the Messenger
of God on the night of the First *Aqabah, that we would associate nothing
with God, that we would neither steal, not commit fornication, nor slay
our offspring^ nor utter slanders; and that we would not disobey him in
that which was right. And he said to us: 'If ye fulfil this pledge, then
Paradise is yours; and if ye commit one of these sins and then receive
punishment for it in this world, that shall serve as expiation. And if ye
conceal it until the Day of the Resurrection, then it is for God to punish or
forgive, even as He will.'

When they left for Yathrib the Prophet sent with them Mus*ab of *Abd
ad-Dar who had by that time returned from Abyssinia. He was to recite the
Koran to them and give them religious instruction. He lodged with As'ad
ibn Zurarah, one of the six who had entered Islam the previous year.
Mus'ab had also to lead the prayer because, despite their Islam, neither
Aws nor Khazraj could yet endure to give one another that precedence.

^ In reference to the practice which had developed in Arabia among the indigent
Bedouin, especially in time of famine, of burying unwanted female infants.

2 U.289.

Yathrib Responsive 109

The rivalry between the descendants of the two sons of Qaylah was of
long standing. There had been none the less frequent intermarriages
between the two tribes, and as a result of one of these, As*ad, the Khazrajite
host of Mus'ab, was the first cousin of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, chief of one of the
clans of Aws. Sa*d strongly disapproved of the new religion. He was
therefore angry, yet at the same time embarrassed, to see his cousin As* ad
together with Mus*ab and some newly converted Muslims sitting one day
in a garden in the midst of his people's territory, in earnest conversation
with members of his clan. Determined to put an end to such activities, yet
not wishing to be involved in any unpleasantness himself, he went toUsayd
who was next in authority to himself, and said: "Go thou to these two men
who have come to our quarters to make fools of our weaker brethren" - he
was no doubt thinking of his younger brother, the now dead lyas, who had
been the first man of Yathrib to enter Islam^ - "and drive them out; and
forbid them to come to our quarters again. If As*ad were not my kinsman I
would save thee this trouble but he is my mother's sister's son, and I can do
nothing against him." Usayd took his lance and went and stood over them
and said, with as fierce an expression as he could muster: "What bringeth
the two of you here, to make fools of our weaker brethren? Leave us, if ye
have any care for your lives." Mus*ab looked at him and said gently: "Why
not be seated and hear what I have to say? Then, if it please thee, accept it;
and if not, keep thyself clear of it." "That is fairly spoken," said Usayd,
who liked both the appearance and the manner of the Prophet's envoy;
and striking his lance in the ground he sat down beside them. Mus*ab
spoke to him about Islam and recited the Koran to him; and Usayd's
expression changed, so that those who were present could see Islam in his
face from the light that shone in it and the repose that softened it even
before he spoke, "How excellent are these words and how beautiful!" he
said, when Mus*ab had finished. "What do ye do, if ye wish to enter this
rehgion?" They told him that he must wash himself from head to foot in
order to be purified, and that he must also purify his garments and then
perform the prayer. There was a well in the garden where they were sitting,
so he washed himself and purified his garments and testified There is no
god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God. They showed him
how to pray, and he prayed. Then he said: "There is a man behind me who,
if he follow you, will be followed without fail by every man of his people,
and I will send him to you now."

So he went back to his clansmen, and even before he reached them they
could see that he was a changed man. "What hast thou done?" said Sa'd. "I
spake unto the two men," said Usayd, "and by God I saw no harm in them.
But I forbade them to continue and they said: *We will do as thou wilt.' "I
see thou hast been of no avail," said Sa*d, taking the lance from his hand
and setting off to w^here the believers were still sitting peacefully in the
garden. He remonstrated with his cousin As' ad and upraided him for
taking advantage of their kinship. But Mus*ab intervened, speaking to him
just as he had spoken to Usayd, whereupon Sa'd agreed to listen to him,
and the result Was finally the same.

' Seep. 57.

no Muhammad

When Sa'd had performed the prayer, he rejoined Usayd and those that
were with him and together they went to the assembly of their people. Sa'd
addressed them and said: "What know ye of my standing amongst you?"
"Thou art our liege lord," they answered, "and the best of us in judgement,
and the most auspicious in leadership." "Then I tell you," he said, "I swear
I will speak neither to your men nor to your women until ye believe in God
and His Messenger." And by nightfall there was no man or woman of his
clan who had not entered Islam.

Mus*ab stayed with As*ad for about eleven months, and many were the
people who embraced Islam during that time. Then, when the month of the
next Pilgrimage drew near, he returned to Mecca to give tidings to the
Prophet of how he had fared among the various clans of Aws and Khazraj.

The Prophet knew that the well watered land between two tracts of
black stones which he had seen in a vision was Yathrib, and he knew that
this time he too would be of the emigrants. Now there were few people in
Mecca whom he trusted so much as his aunt by marriage, Umm al-Fadl.
He was also certain that his uncle *Abbas, although he had not entered
Islam, would never betray him and never divulge a secret confided to him.
So he told them both that he hoped to go and live in Yathrib and that much
depended on the delegation which was expected from the oasis for the
coming Pilgrimage. On hearing this, 'Abbas said that he felt it his duty to
go with his nephew to meet the delegates and speak with them, and the
Prophet agreed.

Not long after Mus*ab's departure, some of the MusHms of Yathrib set
out upon the Pilgrimage as had been arranged between him and them, in all
seventy- three men and two women, hoping to make contact with the
Prophet. One of their leaders was a Khazrayite chief named Bara', and
during the first days of the journey a preoccupying thought came over him.
They were on their way towards Mecca wherein was the House of God, the
Ka*bah, the greatest centre of pilgrimage for the whole of Arabia; and
therein was also the Prophet, to whom they were going, and it was there
that the Koran had been revealed, and thither their souls were moving
ahead of them in aspiration. Was it then right or reasonable, when the time
came for prayer, that they should turn their backs on that direction and
face towards the north, towards Syria? This may have been more than a
mere thought, for Bara' had only a few more months to live, and men who
are near to death are sometimes gifted with premonitions. However that
may be, he told his companions what was in his mind, whereupon they said
that as far as they knew the Prophet was wont to pray towards Syria, that is
towards Jerusalem, and they did not wish to differ from him. "I shall pray
towards the Ka*bah," said Bara', and he did so throughout the journey,
while all the others continued to pray towards Jerusalem. They remon-
strated with him to no avail, except diat when they arrived in Mecca he
had some misgivings and he said to Ka*b ibn Malik, one of his younger
clansmen - and one of the more gifted poets of Yathrib: "Son of my
brother, let us go to the Messenger of God and ask him about what I did on
this journey, for doubts have fallen into my soul through my seeing that ye
were against me." So they asked a man in Mecca where they could find the
Prophet, whom they did not even know by sight. "Know ye his uncle

Yathrib R esponsive 1 1 1

'Abbas?" said the man, and they replied that they did, for 'Abbas was a
frequent visitor to Yathrib and was well known there. "When ye enter the
Mosque," said their informant, "he is the man sitting beside 'Abbas." So
they went to the Prophet, who said, in answer to the question of Bara*:
"Thou hadst a direction, if thou hadst but kept to it." Bara' took to praying
towards Jerusalem once more, in order to do as the Prophet did, though the
answer he had received could have been taken in more than one sense.

Their journey to Mecca had been in a caravan together with the
polytheist pilgrims of Yathrib, one of whom entered Islam in the valley of
Mina, an eminent Khazrajite, Abu Jabir 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, a leader of
the Bani Salimah and a man of great influence. It was agreed that they
should secretly meet the Prophet as before at 'Aqabah on the second of the
nights immediately following the Pilgrimage. In the words of one of them:
"We slept that night with our people in the caravan until when a third of
the night had passed we crept out from amongst the sleepers to our
appointed meeting with the Messenger of God, stealing as stealthily as
sand-grouse, until we were all assembled in the gully near 'Aqabah. There
we waited until the Messenger came, and with him came his uncle 'Abbas
who was at that time still of the religion of his people, albeit that he wished
to be present at his nephew*s transaction and to make sure that the
promises made to him were reliable. When the Prophet was seated, 'Abbas
was the first to speak: 'People of Khazraj' - for so the Arabs were wont to
address Khazraj and Aws - *ye know the esteem in which we hold
Muhammad, and we have protected him from his people so that he is
honoured in his clan and safe in his country. Yet hath he resolved to turn
unto you and join himself with you. So if ye think that ye will keep to what
ye promise him, and that ye will protect him against all that shall oppose
him, yours be that burden which ye have taken upon yourselves. But if ye
think ye will betray him and fail him after he hath gone out unto you, then
leave him now.* 'We have heard what thou sayest,' they answered, 'but
speak thou, O Messenger of God, and choose for thyself and for thy Lord
what thou wilt.'"

After reciting from the Koran and pronouncing a summons to God and
to Islam, the Prophet said: "I make with you this pact on condition that the
allegiance ye pledge me shall bind you to protect me even as ye protect your
women and your children." Bara* rose and took his hand and said: "By
Him who sent thee with the truth, we will protect thee as we protect them.
So accept the pledge of our allegiance, O Messenger of God, for we are men
of war, possessed of arms that have been handed down from father to
son." A man of Aws then broke in upon him and said: "O Messenger of
God, there are ties between us and other men" - he meant the Jews - "and
we are willing to sever them. But might it not be that if we do this, and if
then God give thee victory, thou wilt return to thy people and leave us?"
The Prophet smiled and said: "Nay, 1 am yours and ye are mine. Whom ye
war against, him I war against. Whom ye make peace with, him I make
peace with."

Then he said: "Bring out to me twelve of your men as leaders, that they
may look to the affairs of their people." So they brought out to him twelve
leaders, nine from Khazraj and three from Aws, since sixty-two of the men

112. Muhammad

were of Khazraj and also the two women, whereas only eleven were from
Aws. Amongst the nine leaders of Khazraj were As*ad and Bara'; amongst
the three of Aws was Usayd whom Sa*d ibn Mu'adh had sent to represent
him.

When the people were about to pledge themselves, one by one, to the
Prophet, a man of Khazraj, one of the twelve who had pledged himself the
previous year, made a sign that they should wait, and he addressed them
saying: "Men of Khazraj, know ye what it means to pledge yourselves to
this man?" "We know," they said, but he disregarded them. "Ye pledge
yourselves", he continued, "to war against all men, the red and the black. ^
So if ye think that when ye suffer the loss of possessions and when some of
your nobles are slain ye will forsake him, forsake him now, for if ye forsake
him then it will bring shame upon you in this world and the next. But if ye
think ye will fulfil your pledge, then take him, for therein, by God, is the
best of this world and the next." They said: "What though our possessions
be lost and our nobles slain, yet do we take him. And what shall be ours
thereby, O Messenger of God, if we fulfil to thee our pledge?" "Paradise,"
he said, and they said: "Stretch forth thy hand," and he stretched out his
hand and they pledged their oaths.

And Satan was watching and listening from the top of *Aqabah; and
when he could contain himself no longer he cried out in the loudest voice
possible and spoke the name Mudhammam, Reprobate; and the Prophet
knew who it was who had thus cried, and he answered him, saying: "O
enemy of God, I will give thee no respite."

' That is, all men whatsoever. After this second pledge at 'Aqabah, that of the First
' Aqabah came to be called "the pledge of the women". It continued to be used, but for women
only, because it contained no mention of the duties of war.

XXXV

Many Emigrations

THE Prophet now encouraged his followers in Mecca to emigrate to
Yathrib. But one of them had already done so. The death of Abu
Talib had deprived his nephew Abu Salamah of a protector, and he
felt compelled to take refuge from his own clan. So he set off for the north,
mounting his wife on a camel with their young son Salamah in her arms
and himself leading the camel. But Umm Salamah was of the other branch
of Makhzum, the Bani 1-Mughirah, and first cousin to Abu Jahl; and some
of her family went after them and snatched the camel's rope from Abu
Salamah's hand. He was far outnumbered and knew it would be useless to
resist so he told her to return with them. He would find a way for her to join
him. But when his branch of Makhzum heard of it they were angry with the
Bani 1-MughTrah and made matters worse by claiming custody of the boy.
So the three of them were cruelly separated until the whole clan took pity
on her and allowed her to take her son and join her husband. She set off on
a camel entirely alone except for Salamah, but after almost six miles she
met a man of 'Abd ad-Dar, 'Uthman ibn Talhah, not yet a believer, who
insisted on escorting her to the end of her journey. They had heard that
Abu Salamah was in Quba*, a village at the most southerly point of Yathrib
where the oasis juts out into the lava tract which is one of '*the two tracts of
black stones"; so when they came within sight of the palm groves *Uthman
said to her: "Thy husband is in this village, so enter it with God's blessing,"
and he himself turned back again towards Mecca. Umm Salamah never
forgot his kindness, and never ceased to praise him for his nobility.

After the pledge of the Second 'Aqabah, the Muslims of Quraysh began
to emigrate in considerable numbers. Amongst the first to go were some
others of the Prophet's cousins, sons and daughters of Jahsh and
Umaymah, 'Abd Allah and his blind brother Abu Ahmad, and their two
sisters Zaynab and Hamnah. With them went many others of the Bani
Asad who had long been confederates of 'Abdu Shams. Hamzah and Zayd
went, leaving their wives in Mecca for the moment, but 'Uthman took
Ruqayyah with him, and 'Umar took his wife Zaynab, their daughter
Hafsah and their young son 'Abd Allah. Haf sah's husband, Khunays of
Sahm, was also with them. Abu Salamah's half-brother, Abu Sabrah, took
with him his wife Umm Kulthum, Suhayl's daughter; and other young
cousins of the Prophet who now went were Zubayr and Tulayb.
It was not long before all his closest Companions had left Mecca except

114 Muhammad

Abu Bakr and 'All. Abu Bakr had asked the Prophet's permission to
emigrate, but he had said: "Hasten not away, for it may be that God will
give thee a companion. " So Abu Bakr understood that he must wait for the
Prophet, and he gave orders for two of his camels to be fed on gum acacia
leaves in preparation for their journey to Yathrib.

Quraysh did what they could to stop the emigrations. SuhayPs other
daughter had now gone with her husband Abu Hudhayfah, just as they
had previously gone to Abyssinia, but Suhayl was determined that this
time his son *Abd Allah should not escape him, so he kept a close watch on
him. Much the same happened to the son of the Sahmite leader *As,
Hisham, who likewise had been among the emigrants to Abyssinia. It was
his half-brother 'Amr who had been sent by Quraysh to turn the Negus
against the Muslim refugees, and Hisham had witnessed his failure and
discomforture. *Umar, who was Hisham's cousin - their mothers were
sisters — had arranged that they should now travel to Yathrib together,
leaving Mecca separately and meeting at the thorn-trees of Adat about ten
miles north of the city. 'Ayyash of Makhzum was also to travel with them;
but at the appointed hour and place there was no sign of Hisham, so *Umar
and his family went on their way with *Ayyash, for they had agreed that
they would not wait for each other. Hisham's father and brother had heard
of his plan and held him back by force; and they put so much pressure on
him that after some days they even persuaded him to renounce Islam.

As to *Ayyash, he reached Yathrib with *Umar, but his two half-
brothers, Abu Jahl and Harith, followed him and told him that their
mother, who was also his mother, had sworn not to comb her hair or take
shelter from the sun until she set eyes on him again. *Ayyash was very
troubled by this, but 'Umar said to him: "They want nothing better than to
seduce thee from thy religion; for by God, if lice troubled thy mother, she
would use her comb; and if the heat of Mecca oppressed her, she would
take shelter." But *Ayyash would not Usten: he insisted on returning to
Mecca in order to release his mother from her oath. He also intended to
retrieve some money he had left behind. But when they were half-way there
Abu Jahl and Harith fell upon him, bound him hand and foot, brought him
home as a prisoner, saying as they entered the city: "O people of Mecca, do
with your fools as we have done with this fool of ours." Like Hisham,
^Ayyash was prevailed upon to renounce Islam, but in neither case was this
final. After a while they were conscience-stricken to the point of supposing
that no atonement was possible for so great a sin, and that was * Omar's
opinion also. But later there came the Revelation: O My slaves who have
acted unwisely against yourselves, despair not of God's Mercy, Verily God
forgiveth sins in their entirety. He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful,
Arid turn unto your Lord in repentance and surrender unto Him before
there come unto you the punishment, when ye shall not be helped.^ *Umar
wrote down these words and found a way of sending the inscription to
Hisham, who said: "When it came to me I raised it close to my eyes and
lowered it away from them, but I could not understand it, until I said: *0
God, make me understand it.' Then God put it into my heart that it had

' XXXlX,53-4.

Many Emigrations 115

been revealed for our very sakes with regard to what we were saying of
ourselves and what was being said of us." Hisham showed it to *Ayyash
and they renewed their Islam and waited for their opportunity to escape.

XXXVI

A Conspiracy

THE apparent apostasies of Hisham and *Ayyash were but small
triumphs for Quraysh, heavily outw^eighed by the steady stream of
emigrants which they were unable to control. Some of the larger
houses in Mecca were now tenantless; others, which had been full, were
now empty save for one or two old people. In the city which had seemed so
prosperous and harmonious only ten years ago everything had changed,
thanks to this one man. But while these feelings of sadness and melancholy
came and went, there was the persistent consciousness of a growing danger
from that city to the north where so many potential enemies were now
gathering together - men who cared nothing for the ties of kinship if they
came into conflict with their religion. Those who had heard the Prophet
say '^Quraysh, I bring you slaughter** had never forgotten it, though at the
time there seemed to be nothing to fear. But if he now eluded them, despite
the perpetual watch they kept upon his movements, and made his way to
Yatiirib, those words might prove to be more than a mere threat.

The death of Mut*im, the Prophet's protector, seemed to clear the way
for action; and to clear it still further, Abu Lahab deliberately absented
himself from the meeting which the leaders of Quraysh now held in the
Assembly. After a long discussion, when various suggestions had been
made and rejected, they agreed - some of them with reluctance - to the
plan put forward by Abu Jahl as being the only effective solution to their
problem. Every clan was to nominate a strong, reliable and well-connected
young man, and at a given moment all these chosen men together should
fall upon Muhammad, each striking him a mortal blow, so that his blood
would be on all the clans. The Bani Hashim would not be able to fight the
whole tribe of Quraysh; they would have to accept blood money - which
would be offered them — in place of revenge; and so at last the community
would be rid of a man who, as long as he lived, would give them no peace.

Gabriel now came to the Prophet and told him what he should do. It was
noon, an unusual time for visiting, but the Prophet went straight to the
house of Abu Bakr who knew at once, as soon as he saw him at that hour,
that something important had happened. *A*ishah and her elder sister
Asma' were with their father when the Prophet came in. '*God hath
allowed me to leave the city and to emigrate," he said. "Together with
me?" said Abu Bakr. "Together with thee," said the Prophet. 'A'ishah was
at that time in her seventh year. She used to say afterwards: "I knew not
before that day that one could weep for joy until I saw Abu Bakr weep at
those words."

A Conspiracy 117

When they had made their plans, the Prophet returned to his house and
told *Ali that he was about to leave for Yathrib, bidding him stay behind in
Mecca until he had given back to their owners all the goods which had
been deposited in their house for safe keeping. The Prophet had never
ceased to be known as al-AmIn, and there were still many disbelievers who
would trust him with their property as they would trust no one else. He
also told 'All what Gabriel had told him about the plot Quraysh had made
against him.

The young men chosen to kill him had agreed to meet outside his gate
after nightfall. But while they were waiting until their numbers were
complete, they heard the sound of women's voices coming from the house,
the voices of Sawdah, Umm Kulthum, Fa^imah and Umm Ayman. That
gave them cause to think; and one of the men said that if they climbed over
the wall and broke into the house their names would be for ever held in
dishonour among the Arabs because they had violated the privacy of
women. So they decided to wait until their intended victim came out, as it
was his wont to do in the early morning, if he came not out before.

The Prophet and 'Ali were soon aware of their presence; and the Prophet
took up a cloak in which he used to sleep and gave it to 'All, saying: "Sleep
thou on my bed, and wrap thyself in this green Hadrami cloak of mine.
Sleep in it, and no harm shall come to thee from them." Then he began to
recite the Surah that is named after its opening letters, Yd-Stn-^ and, when
he came to the words: And We have enshrouded them, so that they see
not^ he went out of the house; and God took away their sight so that they
did not see him, and he passed through their midst and went on his way.

A man was coming in the opposite direction, and their paths crossed,
and he recognised the Prophet. A little later his path took him not far from
the Prophet's house, and seeing men at its gate, he called out to them that if
it was Muhammad they wanted he was not there but had gone out not long
since. "How could that be?" they thought. One of the conspirators had
been watching the house and had seen the Prophet enter it before the others
had arrived; and they were certain that no one had left it while they had
been there. But now they began to be uneasy, until one of them who knew
where the Prophet slept went to a point from which he could see through
the window, just enough to make sure that someone was sleeping on the
Prophet's bed, wrapped in a cloak, so he reassured his fellows that their
man was still there. But when it was dawn 'Ali rose and went to the door of
the house, still wrapped in the cloak; and they saw who it was, and began
to think they had been somehow outwitted. They waited a little longer; the
thinnest of crescents, all that was left of the waning moon of the month of
Safar, had risen over the eastern hills, and now it began to pale as the light
increased. There was still no sign of the Prophet, and with a sudden
impulse they decided to go, each one to his chief of clan, to give the alarm.

' XXXVL,9.

XXXVII

The Hijrah

MEANTIME the Prophet had returned to Abu Bakr, and losing
no time they went out through a window at the back of his house
where two camels, already saddled, were waiting for them. The
Prophet mounted one of them, and Abu Bakr the other, with his son ' Abd
Allah behind him. As they had planned, they made for a cave in the Mount
of Thawr a little to the south, on the way to the Yemen, for they knew that
as soon as the Prophet's absence was discovered search parties would be
sent out to cover all the northern outskirts of the city. When they had gone
a little way beyond the precincts of Mecca, the Prophet halted his camel,
and looking back he said: "Of all God's earth, thou art the dearest place
unto me and the dearest unto God, and had not my people driven me out
from thee I would not have left thee."

*Amir ibn Fuhayrah, the shepherd whom Abu Bakr had bought as a
slave and then set free and put in charge of his sheep, had followed behind
them with his flock to cover up their tracks. When they reached the cave,
Abu Bakr sent his son home with the camels, telling him to listen to what
was said in Mecca the next day when the Prophet's absence was dis-
covered, and to bring them word of it the following night. *Amir was to
pasture his sheep as usual with the other shepherds during the day and to
bring them to the cave at night, always covering up the tracks of * Abd Allah
between Thawr and Mecca.

The next night * Abd Allah returned to the cave and his sister Asma' came
with him, bringing food. Their news was that Quraysh had offered a
reward of a hundred camels to anyone who could find Muhammad and
bring him back to Mecca. Horsemen were already following every normal
route from Mecca to Yathrib, hoping to overtake them both - for it was
assumed that Abu Bakr was with the Prophet, since he also had dis-
appeared.

But others, perhaps unknown to *Abd Allah, thought they must be in
hiding, in one of the numerous caves in the hills round Mecca. Moreover,
the Arabs of the desert are good trackers: even when a flock of sheep had
followed in the wake of two or three camels, the average Bedouin would
see at a glance the remains of the larger prints of the camel-hooves which
the multitude of smaller prints had all but obliterated. It seemed unlikely
that the fugitives would be to the south of the city; but for such a generous
reward every possibility should be tried; and camels had certainly pre-
ceded the sheep on those tracks which led in the direction of Thawr.

On the third day the silence of their mountain sanctuary was broken by

TheHijrah 119

the sound of birds -- a pair of rock doves they thought - cooing and
fluttering their wings outside the cave. Then after a while they heard the
faint sound of men's voices, at some distance below them but gradually
growing louder as if the men were climbing up the side of the mount. They
were not expecting 'Abd Allah until after nightfall, and there were still
some hours to go before sunset, although in fact there was strangely little
light in the cave for the time of day they supposed it to be. The voices were
now not far off - five or six men at least - and they were still approaching.
The Prophet looked at Abu Bakr, and said: Grieve not, for verily God is
with us? And then he said: "What thinkest thou of two when God is their
third?*'^ They could now hear the sound of steps, which drew nearer and
then stopped: the men were standing outside the cave. They spoke
decisively, all in agreement that there was no need to enter the cave, since
no one could possibly be there. Then they turned back the way they had
come.

When the sound of their retreating steps and voices had died away, the
Prophet and Abu Bakr went to the mouth of the cave. There in front of it,
almost covering the entrance, was an acacia tree, about the height of a
man, which had not been there that morning; and over the gap that was left
between the tree and the wall of the cave a spider had woven its web. They
looked through the web, and there in the hollow of a rock, even where a
man might step as he entered the cave, a rock dove had made a nesting
place and was sitting close as if she had eggs, with her mate perched on a
ledge not far above.

When they heard *Abd Allah and his sister approaching at the expected
hour, they gently drew aside the web that had been their safeguard, and
taking care not to disturb the dove, they went to meet them. 'Amir had also
come, this time without his flock. He had brought the Bedouin to whom
Abu Bakr had entrusted the two camels he had chosen for their journey.
The man was not yet a believer, but he could be relied on to keep their
secret and also to guide them to their destination by such out-of-the-way
paths as only a true son of the desert would know. He was waiting in the
valley below with the two mounts, and had brought a third camel for
himself. Abii Bakr was to take 'Amir behind him on his, to look after their
needs. They left the cave, and descended the slope. Asma' had brought a
bag of provisions, but had forgotten to bring a rope. So she took off her
girdle and divided it into two lengths, using one to tie the bag securely to
her father's saddle and keeping the other for herself. Thus it was that she
earned the title "She of the two girdles".

When Abu Bakr offered the Prophet the better of the two camels he said:
"I will not ride a camel that is not mine own." "But she is thine, O
messenger of God." said Abu Bakr. "Nay," said the Prophet; "but what
price didst thou pay for her?" Abu Bakr told him, and he said: "I take her
at that price." Nor did Abu Bakr insist further on making it a gift, although
the Prophet had accepted many gifts from him in the past, for this occasion
was a solemn one. It was the Prophet's Hijrah, his cutting off of all ties of
home and homeland for the sake of God. His offering, the act of emigra-

IX, 40. ' B.LVII,5.

120 Muhammad

tion, must be entirely his, not shared by another in any respect. The mount
on which the act was accomplished must therefore be his own, since it was
part of his offering. The camel's name was Qaswa', and she remained his
favourite camel.

Their guide took them away from Mecca to the west and a little to the
south until they came to the shore of the Red Sea. Yathrib is due north of
Mecca, but it was only at this point that any north came into their
direction. The coastal road runs north-west and for a few days they kept to
this. On one of their first evenings, looking across the water towards the
Nubian desert, they saw the new moon of the month of Rabral-Awwal.
"O crescent of good and of guidance, my faith is in Him who created
thee."' This the Prophet would say when he saw the new moon.

One morning they were somewhat dismayed to see a small caravan
approaching from the opposite direction. But their feelings changed to joy
when they saw that it was Abu Bakr's cousin Talhah who was on his way
from Syria where he had bought the cloth and other merchandise with
which his camels were laden. He had stopped in Yathrib on his way, and
intended to return there as soon as he had disposed of his wares in Mecca.
The Prophet's arrival in the oasis, he said, was awaited with the greatest
eagerness; and before bidding them farewell he gave them each a change of
clothes from out of the fine white Syrian garments which he had intended
to sell to some of the richer men of Quraysh.

Not long after their meeting with Talhah they turned due north, going
slightly inland from the coast, and then north-east, now at last making
directly for Yathrib. At one point of their journey the Prophet received a
Revelation which told him: Verily He who hath made binding upon thee
the Koran will bring thee home once more}

Shortly before dawn on the twelfth day after leaving the cave they
reached the valley of *AqIq, and crossing the valley, they climbed up the
rugged black slopes on the other side. Before they reached the top the sun
was well up and the heat was intense. On other days they would have
stopped for rest until the great heat of the day had passed; but they now
decided to climb the final ridge of the ascent, and when at last they came
within sight of the plain below there could be no question of holding back.
The place that the Prophet had dreamed of, "the well watered land
between two tracts of black stones," was lying before them, and the
grey-green of the palm groves and the lighter green of orchards and
gardens stretched at one point to within three miles of the foot of the slope
they had to descend.

The nearest point of greenery was Quba', where most of the emigrants
from Mecca had first stayed, and where many of them still were. The
Prophet told their guide: "Lead us straight to the Bani 'Amr at Quba', and
draw not yet nigh unto the city" - for so the most densely inhabited part of
the oasis was called. That city was soon to be known throughout Arabia,
and thence elsewhere, as "the City", in Arabic al-Madtnah, in English
Medina.

Several days previously news from Mecca of the Prophet's disappear-

» A.H.V,329' ^ XXVIII, 85.

TheHijrah izi

ance, and of the reward offered for him, had reached the oasis. The people
of Quba' were expecting him daily, for the time of his arrival was now
overdue; so every morning, after the dawn prayer, some of the Bani *Amr
would go out to look for him, and with them went men of other clans who
lived in that village, and also those of the emigrant Quraysh who were still
there and had not yet moved to Medina. They would go out beyond the
fields and palm groves onto the lava tract, and after they had gone some
distance they would stop and wait until the heat of the sun became fierce;
then they would return to their homes. They had gone out that morning,
but had already returned by the time the four travellers had begun their
descent of the rocky slope. Eyes were no longer staring expectantly in that
direction; but the sun shone on the new white garments of the Prophet and
Abu Bakr which were set off all the more against the background of
bluish-black volcanic stones, and a Jew who happened to be on the roof of
his house caught sight of them. He knew at once who they must be, for the
Jews of Quba' had asked and been told why so many of their neighbours
had taken to going out in a body into the wilderness every morning
without fail. So he called out at the top of his voice: "Sons of Qaylah, he is
come, he is come!" The call was immediately taken up, and men, women
and children hurried from their houses and streamed out once more onto
the strip of greenery which led to the stone tract. But they had not far to go,
for the travellers had by now reached the most outlying palm-grove. It was
a noon of great joy on all sides, and the Prophet addressed them, saying:
"O people, give unto one another greetings of Peace; feed food unto the
hungry; honour the ties of kinship; pray in the hours when men sleep. Even
so shall ye enter Paradise in Peace."^

It was decided that he should lodge with Kulthum, an old man of Quba'
who had previously welcomed both Hamzah and Zayd in his house on
their arrival from Mecca. The Bani 'Amr, Kulthum's clan, were of Aws,
and it was no doubt partly in order that both the Yathrib tribes might share
in the hospitality that Abu Bakr lodged with a man of Khazraj in the village
of Sunh which was a Uttle nearer to Medina. After a day or two, 'All
arrived from Mecca, and stayed in the same house as the Prophet. It had
taken him three days to return all the property which had been deposited
with them to its various owners.

Many were those who now came to greet the Prophet, and amongst
them were some Jews of Medina who were drawn more by curiosity than
good will. But on the second or third evening there came a man who was
different in appearance from any of the others, clearly neither an Arab nor
a Jew. Salman, for so he was named, had been born of Persian Zoroastrian
parents in the village of Jayy near Isfahan, but he had become a Christian
and gone to Syria as a very young man. There he had attached himself to a
saintly bishop who, on his deathbed, recommended him to go to the
Bishop of Mosul, who was old like himself but the best man he knew.
Salman set off for the north of Iraq, and this was for him the beginning of a
series of attachments to elderly Christian sages until the last of these, also
on his deathbed, told him that the time was now at hand when a Prophet

1 LS. 1/1,159.

IZ2 Muhammad

would appear: "He will be sent with the religion of Abraham and will
come forth in Arabia where he will emigrate from his home to a place
between two lava tracts, a country of palms. His signs are manifest: he will
eat of a gift but not if it be given as alms; and between his shoulders is the
seal of prophecy." Salman made up his mind to join the Prophet and paid a
party of merchants of the tribe of Kalb to take him with them to Arabia.
But when they reached Wadi 1-Qura near the Gulf of 'Aqabah at the north
of the Red Sea they sold him as a slave to a Jew. The sight of the palms in
Wadi 1-Qura made him wonder whether this could be the township he was
seeking, but he had his doubts. It was not long however before the Jew sold
him to a cousin of his of the Bani Qurayzah in Medina; and as soon as he
saw the lie of the land, he knew beyond doubt that here was the place to
which the Prophet would migrate.

Salman's new owner had another cousin who lived in Quba'; and on the
arrival of the Prophet this Jew of Quba' set off for Medina with the news.
He found his cousin sitting beneath one of his palms ; and Salman, who was
working in the top of the tree, heard him say: "God curse the sons of
Qaylah! They are even now gathered together at Quba' about a man who
hath come to them this day from Mecca. They claim him to be a Prophet."
Those last words filled Salman with certainty that his hopes had been
realised, and the impact was so great that his whole body was seized with
trembling. He was afraid that he would fall out of the tree, so he climbed
down; and once on the ground he eagerly began to question the Jew from
Quba', but his master was angry and ordered him back to his work in the
tree. That evening however he slipped away, taking with him some of his
food which he had saved, and went to Quba', where he found the Prophet
sitting with many companions, new and old. Salman was already con-
vinced, but he none the less approached him and offered him the food,
specifying that he gave it as alms. The Prophet told his companions to eat
of it, but did not eat of it himself. Salman hoped that he would one day see
the seal of prophecy, but to have been in the presence of the Prophet and to
have heard him speak was enough for that first encounter, and he returned
to Medina elated and thankful.

XXXVIII

The Entry into
Medina

THE Prophet had reached the oasis on Monday 27 September ad
62,2, Various messages soon made it clear that the people of Medina
were impatient for his arrival there, so he only stayed three full days
in Quba', during which he laid the foundations of a mosque, the first to be
built in Islam. On the Friday morning he set out from Quba*, and at noon
he and his companions stopped in the valley of Ranuna* to pray the prayer
with the Khazrajite clan of the Bani Salim who were expecting him. This
was the first Friday Prayer that he prayed in the country that from now on
was to be his home. Some of his kinsmen of the Bani an-Naj jar had come to
meet him, and some of the Bani ' Amr had escorted him from Quba', which
brought the whole congregation up to about a hundred men. After the
prayer the Prophet mounted Qaswa', and Abu Bakr and others of Quraysh
also mounted their camels and set off with him for the city. To the right and
to the left of them, dressed in armour with their swords drawn, rode men of
Aws and Khazraj, as a guard of honour and by way of demonstration that
the oath they had taken to protect him was no empty word, though they
knew well that then and there he would need no protection. Never was a
day of greater rejoicing. "Come is the Prophet of God! Come is the Prophet
of God!" was the joyous cry that went up from more and more voices of
men and women and children who had lined the route, Qaswa* set the slow
and stately pace of the procession as it passed amid the gardens and palm
groves to the south of Medina. The houses were still few and far between,
but gradually they entered more closely built distrias, and many were the
eager invitations which were offered. "Alight here, O Messenger of God,
for we have strength and protection for thee, and abundance." More than
once a man or a group of clansmen took hold of Qaswa's halter. But each
time the Prophet blessed them and then said: "Let her go her way, for she is
under the command of God."

At one point it seemed as if she were making for the houses of the
Prophet's nearest kinsmen of the 'Adi branch of the great Khazrajite clan
of Najjar, for she turned into the eastern part of the city where most of the
clan lived. But she passed by the place where he had stayed with his mother
as a child and by all the other houses of those nearest to him, despite their
earnest entreaties that he should make his home there. The Prophet gave

12.4 Muhammad

them the same reply that he had given to the others, and they could only
submit. He had now reached the houses of the Bani Malik branch of
Najjar. To this subclan belonged two of those six men who had pledged
allegiance to him the year before the First 'Aqabah, As'ad and 'Awf; and
here Qaswa' turned from the road into a large walled courtyard which had
in it a few date palms and the ruins of a building. One end had been used at
some time as a burial ground. There was also a place set apart for drying
dates. Slowly she made her way towards a rou^ enclosure which As'ad
had set tip as a place of prayer, and there at the entrance she knelt. The
Prophet let go her rein, but did not alight; and after a moment she rose to
her feet and began to walk leisurely away. But she had not gone far when
she stopped, turned in her tracks and walked back to where she had first
knelt. Then she knelt again; and this time she flattened her chest against
the ground. The Prophet alighted and said: "This, if God will, is the
dwelling."^

He then asked who owned the courtyard, and Mu'adh, the brother of
*Awf , told him it belonged to two orphan boys, Sahl and Suhayl. They were
under the guardianship of As*ad, and the Prophet asked him to bring them
to him, but they were already at hand and came and stood before him. He
asked them if they would sell him the courtyard, and told them to name
their price, but they said: "Nay, we give it thee, O Messenger of God." He
would not, however, take it as a gift, and the price was fixed with the help
of As' ad. Meanwhile Abu Ayyub Khalid, who lived nearby, had untied the
baggage and carried it into his house. Others of the clan now came and
begged the Prophet to be their guest, but he said: "A man must be with his
baggage." Abu Ayyub had been the first of the clan to pledge himself at the
Second *Aqabah. He and his wife now withdrew to the upper part of his
house, leaving the ground floor for the Prophet; and As* ad led Qaswa' to
the courtyard of his own house which was close by.

' B.LXin.

XXXIX

Harmony and
Discord

THE Prophet gave orders that his newly acquired courtyard should
be made into a mosque, and as in Quba' they began work on it
immediately. Most of the building was done with bricks, but in the
middle of the northern wall, that is, the Jerusalem wall, they put stones on
either side of the prayer niche. The palms in the courtyard were cut down
and their trunks were used as pillars to support the roof of palm branches,
but the greater part of the courtyard was left open.

The Muslims of Medina had been given by the Prophet the title of Ansar
which means Helpers, whereas the Muslims of Quraysh and other tribes
who had left their homes and emigrated to the oasis he called Muhdjirah,
that is, Emigrants. All took part in the work, including the Prophet himself,
and as they worked they chanted two verses which one of them had made
up for the occasion:

"O God, no good is but the good hereafter,
So help the Helpers and the Emigrants,"

And sometimes they chanted:

"No life there is but life of the Hereafter.
Mercy, O God, on Emigrants and Helpers."

It was to be hoped that these two parties would be strengthened by a
third, and the Prophet now made a covenant of mutual obligation between
his followers and the Jews of the oasis, forming them into a single
community of believers but allowing for the differences between the two
religions. Muslims and Jews were to have equal status. If a Jew were
wronged, then he must be helped to his rights by both Muslim and Jew,
and so also if a Muslim were wronged. In case of war against the
polytheists they must fight as one people, and neither Jews nor Muslims
were to make a separate peace, but peace was to be indivisible. In case of
differences of opinion or dispute or controversy, the matter was to be
referred to God, through His Messenger. There was, however, no express
stipulation that the Jews should formally recognise Muhammad as the

12.6 Muhammad

Messenger and Prophet of God, though he was referred to as such
throughout the document.

The Jews accepted this covenant for poHtical reasons. The Prophet was
already by far the most powerful man in Medina, and his power seemed
likely to increase. They had no choice but to accept; yet very few of them
were capable of believing that God would send a Prophet who was not a
Jew, At first they were outwardly cordial, whatever they may have said
amongst themselves and however set they were in the consciousness of
their own superiority, the immense and incomparable superiority of the
chosen people over all others. But though their scepticism with regard to
the new religion was normally veiled, they were always ready to share it
with any Arab who might have doubts about the Divine origin of the
Revelation.

Islam continued to spread rapidly throughout the clans of Aws and
Khazraj, and some believers looked forward to the day when, thanks to the
covenant with the Jews, the oasis would be one harmonious whole. But the
Revelation now gave warning of hidden elements of discord. It was about
this time that the longest surah of the Koran began to be revealed,
al-Baqarah (the Heifer), which is placed at the beginning of the Book,
immediately after the seven verses of al-Fatihah, the Opening. It starts with
a definiton of the rightly guided: Alif- Lam - Mtm, This beyond doubt is
the Book, a guidance unto the God-fearing, who believe in the Unseen and
perform the prayer and give of that which We have bestowed upon them;
and who believe in that which is revealed unto thee and in that which was
revealed before thee, and who are certain of the Hereafter. These are they
who follow guidance from their Lord and these are they who shall
prosper,^

Then after mention of the disbelievers who are blind and deaf to the
truth, a third body of people is mentioned: And of men there are some who
say: We believe in God and in the last day, yet they are not believers . . .
When they meet those who believe they say: we believe. And when they go
apart unto their satans, they say: Verily we are with you; we did but mock.^
These were the waverers and doubters and hypocrites of Aws and Khazraj
in all their varying degrees of insincerity; and their satans, that is their
inspirers of evil, were the men and women of the disbelievers who did all
they could to sow the seeds of doubt. The Prophet was here warned of a
problem by which he had been altogether untroubled in Mecca. There the
sincerity of those who embraced Islam was never to be doubted. The
reasons for conversion could only be spiritual, since as regards the things
of this world a convert had nothing to gain and in many cases much to lose.
But now there were certain worldly reasons for entering the new religion,
and these were steadily on the increase. The days of the total absence of
hypocrites from the ranks of the MusUms were gone for ever.

Some of the satans referred to were of the Jews. The same Revelation
said: Many of the people of the Book^ long to bring you back into disbelief
after your belief through envy that is in their souls. Eagerly the Jews had
looked forward to the coming of the predicted Prophet, not for the sake of

II. 2-5. 2 11,8,14. ' The Bible. * 11,109.

Harmony and Discord i zj

the spiritual enlightenment it would bring but so that they might regain
their former supremacy in Yathrib; and now to their dismay they saw that
it was a descendant of Ishmael, not of Isaac, who was proclaiming the truth
of the One God, with a success which was truly suggestive of Divine
support. They feared that he was indeed the promised Prophet, whence
their envy of the people to whom he was sent. Yet they hoped that he was
not, and they sought continually to persuade themselves and others that he
had not the true requisites of a Heaven-sent Messenger. "Muhammad
claimeth that tidings come to him from Heaven, yet he knoweth not where
his camel is," said a man of the Jews on a day when one of the Prophet's
camels had strayed. "I only know what God giveth me to know," said the
Prophet when he heard of it, "and this He hath shown me: she is in the glen
that I will tell you of, caught to a tree by her halter."^ And some of the
Helpers went and found her where he had said she was.

Many of the Jews welcomed at first what seemed to be the end of all
danger of a further outbreak of civil war in the oasis. There had none the
less been advantages in that danger, for the division between the Arabs had
greatly enhanced the status of the non-Arabs, who were much in demand
as allies. But the union of Aws and Khazraj made the old alliances
unnecessary, while at the same time it gave the Arabs of Yathrib a
formidable strength. The covenant of the Jews with the Prophet made it
possible for them to share in that strength. But it also meant incurring
obligations for a possible war against the far greater Arab strength which
lay beyond the oasis; there might be other grave disadvantages for them in
the new order of things, which was as yet untried, whereas the old order
they knew and they were so well versed in its ways that many of them soon
longed to return to it. One elderly Jewish politician of the Bani Qaynuqa', a
master in the art of exploiting the discord between the Arab tribes, felt
particularly frustrated by the new friendship between Aws and Khazraj.
He therefore instructed a youth of his tribe who had a beautiful voice to go
and sit amongst the Helpers when they were assembled together and to
recite to them some of the poetry which had been composed by men of
both tribes immediately before and after Bu*ath, the most recent battle of
the civil war — poems in revilement of enemies, glorying in deeds of
prowess, elegies for the dead, threats of revenge. The youth did as he was
told, and he quickly held the attention of all who were there, transporting
them from the present into the past. The men of Aws vehemently ap-
plauded the poetry of Aws and those of Khazraj the poetry of Khazraj ; and
then the two sides began to argue with each other, and to boast, and to
shout abuse and threats, until, finally the cry burst forth: "To arms! To
arms !" and they went out into the lava tract, bent on fighting the fight once
again. When the news reached the Prophet he gathered together all the
Emigrants who were at hand and hastened out to where the two hosts were
already drawn up in battle order. "O Muslims," he said, and then he twice
pronounced the Divine Name, Allah ^ Allah. "Will ye act," he went on, "as
in the days of Ignorance, what though I am with you, and God hath guided
you unto Islam, and honoured you with it, and thereby enabled you to

^ 1.1.361.

128 Muhammad

break with pagan ways, and thereby saved you from disbelief, and thereby
united your hearts?'' At once they realised that they had been led astray,
and they wept, and embraced each other, and returned with the Prophet to
the city, attentive and obedient to his words.*

In order to unite the community of believers still further, the Prophet
now instituted a pact of brotherhood between the Helpers and the
Emigrants, so that each of the Helpers would have an Emigrant brother
who was nearer to him than any of the Helpers, and each Emigrant would
have a Helper brother who was nearer to him than any Emigrant. But he
made himself and his family an exception, for it would have been too
invidious for him to choose as his brother one of the Helpers rather than
another, so he took 'All by the hand and said: "This is my brother"; and he
made Hamzah the brother of Zayd.

Among the chief adversaries to Islam were two cousins, the sons of two
sisters, but of Aws and of Khazraj through their fathers, each being of great
influence in his tribe. The man of Aws, Abu 'Amir, was sometimes called
"the Monk" because he had long been an ascetic and had been known to
wear a garment of hair. He claimed to be of the religion of Abraham, and
had acquired a certain religious authority amongst the people of Yathrib.
He came to the Prophet soon after his arrival, ostensibly to ask him about
the new religion. He was answered in the words of the Revelation which
had more than once defined it as the religion of Abraham.^ "But I am of it,"
said Abu 'Amir, and persisting in the face of denial he accused the Prophet
of having falsified the Abrahamic faith, "I have not," said the Prophet,
"but I have brought it white and pure." "May God let the liar die a lonely
outcast exile !" said Abu 'Amir. "So be it!" said the Prophet. "May God do
that unto him who is lying !"^

Abii 'Amir soon saw that his authority was rapidly losing weight; and he
was still further embittered by his son Hanzalah's devotion to the Prophet.
It was not long before he decided to take his remaining followers, about ten
in all, to Mecca, seemingly unaware that this was the beginning of his own
self-imprecated exile.

His cousin of Khazraj was 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, who also felt himself
to have been frustrated by the coming of the Prophet and robbed not of
spiritual authority but of the chief temporal power in the Yathrib oasis. He
likewise had the bitterness of seeing his own son *Abd Allah altogether
won over by the Prophet, as well as his daughter Jamilah. But unhke Abu
*Amir, Ibn Ubayy was prepared to wait, thinking that sooner or later the
newcomer's overwhelming influence would begin to ebb. Meantime it was
his policy to be as non-committal as possible, but he sometimes betrayed
his feelings despite himself.

One such occasion was when another chief of Khazraj, Sa'd ibn
'Ubadah, was ill and the Prophet went to visit him. All the rich men of the
oasis had their houses built as fortresses, and on his way he passed by
Muzaham, the fortress of Ibn Ubayy, who was sitting in the shadow of its
walls surrounded by some of his clansmen and other men of Khazraj. Out
of courtesy to this chieftain, the Prophet dismounted from his ass and

U.386. 2 II,i3S- ^ LL 411-12..

Harmony and Discord 1 29

going to greet him sat for a while in his company, reciting the Koran and
inviting him to Islam. When he had said all that he felt moved to say, Ibn
Ubayy turned to him and said: "Naught could be better than this discourse
of thine, were it but true. Sit then at home, in thine own house, and whoso
cometh unto thee, preach unto him thus, but whoso cometh not, burden
him not with thy talk, nor enter into his gathering with that which he liketh
not." "Nay," said a voice, "come unto us with it, and visit us in our
gatherings and our quarters and our houses, for that do we love, and that
hath God given us of His Bounty, and thereunto hath He guided us." The
speaker was 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah, a man whom Ibn Ubayy had
thought he could count on for support at every turn. The disappointed
chieftain now sullenly uttered a verse to the effect that when one is deserted
by one's friends one is bound to be overcome. He had learned more clearly
than ever that it was useless to resist. As to the Prophet, he went away
deeply saddened, despite *Abd Allah's glowing tribute; and when he
entered the sick man's house the rebuff he had received was still as it were
written on his face. Sa*d immediately asked what was troubling him, and
when he was told about Ibn Ubayy's impenetrable disbelief he said: "Deal
gently with him, O Messenger of God, for when God brought thee unto us,
even then were we fashioning for him a diadem wherewith to crown him;
and he seeth that thou hast robbed him of a kingdom."

The Prophet never forgot these words; and as to Ibn Ubayy, he soon
saw that his influence, once so great, was rapidly dwindling and that if he
did not enter Islam it would vanish altogether. On the other hand he knew
that a nominal acceptance of Islam would confirm him in his authority, for
the Arabs were averse to breaking their old ties of allegiance unless there
was a great reason for doing so. It was therefore not long before he decided
to enter Islam; but although he formally pledged himself to the Prophet
and regularly thereafter attended the prayers, the believers never came to
feel sure of him. There were others about whom they were equally
doubtful, but Ibn Ubayy was different from the majority of lukewarm or
insincere converts by reason of his far-reaching influence, which made him
all the more dangerous.

During the first months, while the Mosque was still being built, the
community suffered a great loss in the death of As'ad, the first man in the
oasis to pledge himself to the Prophet. It was he who had been the host of
Mu§*ab, and who had worked so closely with him during the year between
the two 'Aqabahs. The Prophet said: "The Jews and the Arab hypocrites
will surely say of me: 'If he were a Prophet, his companion would not have
died.* And indeed my will availeth nothing for myself or for my companion
against the Will ofGod."^

It was perhaps at the funeral of As'ad that the second meeting of Salman
the Persian with the Prophet took place, for Salman himself described this
meeting in later years to the son of 'Abbas, saying: "I went to the
Messenger of God when he was in the Baqi al-Gharqad,^ whither he had
followed the bier of one of his Companions." Salman had known he would

* I.I. 3 46. ^ The cemetery at the south-east end of Medina.

130 Muhammad

be there, and he contrived to absent himself from his work in time to reach
the cemetery after the burial, while the Prophet was still sitting there with
some of the Emigrants and the Helpers. "I greeted him," said Salman, "and
then I circled round behind him in the hope that I might be able to look
upon the Seal. And he knew what I desired, so he grasped his cloak and
threw it off his back, and I beheld the Seal of Prophecy even as my Master
had described it unto me. I stooped over it and kissed it and wept. Then the
Messenger of God bade me come round and I went and sat in front of him
and told him my story, and he was glad that his Companions should hear
it. Then I entered Islam."^ But Salman was kept hard at work as a slave
among the Bani Qurayzah, and for the next four years he was able to have
litde contact with his fellow Muslims.

Another man of the people of the Book who embraced Islam at this time
was a rabbi of the Bani Qaynuqa', Husayn ibn Sallam. He came to the
Prophet in secret and pledged allegiance to him. The Prophet thereupon
gave him the name ' Abd Allah, and the new convert suggested that before
his Islam became known his people should be questioned about his
standing amongst them. The Prophet concealed him in his house and sent
for some of the leading men of Qaynuqa'. "He is our chief," they said in
answer to his question, "and the son of our chief; he is our rabbi and our
man of learning." Then 'Abd Allah came out to them and said: "O Jews,
fear God, and accept that which He hath sent unto you, for ye know that
this man is the Messenger of God." Then he affirmed his own Islam and
that of his household; and his people reviled him, and denied his good
standing amongst them which they had previously affirmed.

Islam was now firmly established in the oasis. The Revelation prescribed
the giving of alms and the fast of the month of Ramadan, and laid down in
general what was forbidden and what was allowed. The five daily ritual
prayers were regularly performed in congregation, and when the time for
each prayer came the people would assemble at the site where the Mosque
was being built. Everyone judged of the time by the position of the sun in
the sky, or by the first signs of its light on the eastern horizon or by the
dimming of its glow in the west after sunset; but opinions could differ, and
the Prophet felt the need for a means of summoning the people to prayer
when the right time had come. At first he thought of appointing a man to
blow a horn like that of the Jews, but later he decided on a wooden clapper,
ndqus, such as the Oriental Christians used at that time, and two pieces of
wood were fashioned together for that purpose. But they were never
destined to be used; for one night a man of Khazraj, *Abd Allah ibn Zayd,
who had been at the Second 'Aqabah, had a dream whkh the next day he
recounted to the Prophet: "There passed by me a man wearing two green
garments and he carried in his hand a ndqiis, so I said unto him: "O slave of
God, wilt thou sell me that ndqus}''' "What wilt thou do with it?" he said.
"We will summon the people to prayer with it," I answered. "Shall I not
show thee a better way?" he said. "What way is that?" I asked, and he
answered: "That thou shouldst say: God is most Great, Alldhu Akbar"
The man in green repeated this magnification four times, then each of the

' I.I.i4i;I.S.IV,56.

Harmony and Discord 131

following twice: / testify that there is no god but God; I testify that
Muhammad is the messenger of God; come unto the prayer; come unto
salvation; God is most Great; and then once again there is no god but God,
The Prophet said that this was a true vision, and he told him to go to
Bilal, who had an excellent voice, and teach him the words exactly as he
had heard them in his sleep. The highest house in the neighbourhood of the
Mosque belonged to a woman of the clan of Najjar, and Bilal would come
there before every dawn and would sit on the roof waiting for the
daybreak. When he saw the first faint light in the east he would stretch out
his arms and say in supplication: "O God I praise Thee, and I ask Thy Help
for Quraysh, that they may accept Thy religion." Then he would stand and
utter the call to prayer.

The New
Household

WHEN the Mosque was nearly finished the Prophet gave orders
for two small dwellings to be attached to its eastern wall, one for
his wife Sawdah and the other for his bethrothed, *A'ishah.'The
building had taken altogether seven months, and during that time he
lodged with Abu Ayyub. But when Sawdah's house was nearly ready he
sent Zayd to bring her to Medina, and with het Umm Kulthum and
Fatimah; and Abu Bakr sent word to his son *Abd Allah to bring Umm
Ruman, Asma* and *A'ishah. At the same time Zayd brought his own wife
Umm Ayman and their small son Usamah. Talhah also travelled with
them, having disposed of all his immovable property, and making now his
Hijrah, Not long after the arrival of the party, Abu Bakr gave Asma' in
marriage to Zubayr, who with his mother Safiyyah had already been some
months in Medina. Abu Bakr's sister Quraybah remained in Mecca to take
care of their father, Abu Quhafah, who was old and blind. Unlike
Quraybah, he had not yet entered Islam.

The Prophet now decided that in addition to Umm Ayman Zayd should
have a second wife, one nearer his own age, and he asked his cousin *Abd
Allah, the son of Jahsh, for the hand of his beautiful sister Zaynab. At first
Zaynab was unwilling, and she had reason to be so, as events were to
disclose. The reason she gave, namely that she was a woman of Quraysh,
was not convincing. Her mother, Umaymah, of pure Quraysh stock on
both sides, had married a man of Asad; and quite apart from Zayd's
adoption into Quraysh, it could not be said that the tribes of his parents,
the Bani Kalb and the Bani Tayy, were inferior to the Bani Asad. When she
saw that it was the Prophet's desire that she should marry Zayd, she
consented, and the marriage took place. About the same time her sister
Hamnah was given in marriage to Mu§*ab. Not long afterwards
Umaymah came to Medina and pledged allegiance to the Prophet.

The Prophet and his daughters now went to live with Sawdah in her new
house; and after a month or two it was decided that 'A'ishah's wedding
should take place. She was then only nine years old, a child of remarkable
beauty, as might have been expected from her parentage. Quraysh had
given her father the name of 'Atiq, and some said that this was on account
of his fine face.^ Of her mother the Prophet had said: "Whoso would

> I.H.161.

The New Household 133

behold a woman of the wide-eyed Huris of Paradise, let him look on Umm
Ruman."^ To 'A'ishah the Prophet had long been very near and very dear,
and she had been accustomed to see him every day, except during those few
months when he and her father had already emigrated and she and her
mother were still in Mecca. From her earliest years she had seen her father
and mother treat him with such love and reverence as they gave to no one
else. Nor had they failed to impress upon her the reasons for this: she knew
well that he was the Messenger of God, that he had regular converse with
the Angel Gabriel, and that he was unique amongst living men in that he
had ascended to Heaven and returned from thence to earth. His very
presence told of that ascent, and communicated something of the joy of
Paradise. In his miraculous touch this joy was even tangible. When others
were overcome by the heat, his hand would be "cooler than snow and
more fragrant than musk".^ He seemed, moreover, ageless, like an immor-
tal. His eyes had lost nothing of their lustre, his black hair and beard had
still the sheen of youth and his body had the grace of a man whose age was
only the half of those fifty-three years which had passed since the Year of
the Elephant.

Small preparations were made for the wedding - not enough, at any rate
for 'A'ishah to have had the sense of a great and solemn occasion, and
shortly before they were due to leave the house she had slipped out into the
courtyard to play with a passing friend. In her own words: "I was playing
on a see-saw and my long streaming hair was dishevelled. They came and
took me from my play and made me ready.

Abu Bakr had bought some fine red-striped cloth from Bahrain and it
had been made into a wedding-dress for her. In this they now clothed her.
Then her mother took her to the newly built house where some women of
the Helpers were waiting for her outside the door. They greeted her with
the words "For good and for happiness - may all be well!" and led her into
the presence of the Prophet. He stood there smiling while they combed her
hair and decked her with ornaments. Unlike his other marriages, at this
there was no wedding feast. The occasion was as simple as possible. A
bowl of milk was brought and having drunk from it himself, he offered it
to her. She shyly declined it, but when he pressed her to drink she did so,
and offered the bowl to her sister Asma' who was sitting beside her. Others
also drank of it; then they all went their ways, and the bridegroom and
bride were left together.
_ For the last three years scarcely a day had passed without one or more of
*A'ishah's friends coming to play with her in the courtyard adjoining her
father's house. Her removal to the Prophet's house changed nothing in this
respect. Friends now came every day to visit her in her own appartment -
new friends made since her arrival in Medina and also some of the old ones
whose parents, like hers, had emigrated. "I would be playing with my
dolls," she said, "with the girls who were my friends, and the Prophet
would come in and they would steal out of the house and he would go out
after them and bring them back, for he was pleased for my sake to have
them there,'"* Sometimes he would say "Stay where ye are"^ before they

' l.S.VII,zo2. ^ B.LXI,22, 3 LS.VHI,40-i.
* I.S.VUI,42. J ibid., 41.

134 Muhammad

had time to move. He would also join in their games sometimes, for he
loved children and had often played with his own daughters. The dolls or
puppets had many different roles. "One day," said 'A'ishah, "the Prophet
came in when I was playing with the dolls and he said: 'O *A*ishah,
whatever game is this?' I said: it is Solomon's horses', and he laughed."*
But sometimes as he came in he would simply screen himself with his cloak
so as not to disturb them.

'A'ishah's life had also its more serious side. Yathrib was well known
throughout Arabia as a place where at certain seasons there was a great
danger of fever, especially for those who were not native to the oasis. The
Prophet himself escaped the fever, but it severely attacked many of his
Companions including Abu Bakr and his two freednien 'Amir and Bilal,
who were at that time living with him. One morning 'A'ishah went to visit
her father, and was dismayed to find the three men lying prostrate in an
extremity of weakness. "How dost thou, my father?" she said, but he was
too ill to adjust his reply to a girl of nine, and he answered her with two
lines of poetry:

"Each man each morn his kindred greet good day,
And death is nearer than his sandal's thong."

She thought he did not know what he was saying and turned to 'Amir, who
also answered her in verse, to the effect that without actually dying he had
been near enough to death to know what it was like. Meantime the fever
had left Bilal, though he was still too weak to do anything but lie in the
courtyard of the house. But his voice had enough strength in it for him to
chant:

"Ah, shall I ever sleep the night again
Midst thyme and nard that outside Mecca grow,
And shall I drink the waters of Majannah,^
And see before me Shamah and Tafil?"^

*A'ishah returned home deeply troubled. "They are raving," she said,
"out of their minds, through the heat of the fever." But the Prophet was
somewhat reassured when with the retentive memory of a child she
repeated almost word for word the lines which they had uttered and which
she had not fully understood. It was on that occasion that he prayed: "O
God, make Medina as dear unto us as thou hast made Mecca, or even
dearer. And bless for us its waters and its grain, and carry away from it its
fever as far as Mahya'ah/",^ And God answered his prayer.

' ibid., 4Z. ^ A place near Mecca. ^ Two hills of Mecca.
^ A place about seven camel days south of Medina. ^ I.I. 414.

XLI

The Threshold of
War

PERMISSION to fight is given unto those who fight because they
have been wronged; and God is Able to give them victory. Those
who have been driven from their homes unjustly ^ for no cause other
than for their saying: Our Lord is God} The Prophet had received this
Revelation not long after his arrival in Medina. He knew moreover that
permission was here a command, and the obligations of war had been
stressed in the covenant with the Jews. But for the moment there could be
no question of anything but raids. Quraysh were vulnerable in their
caravans, and it was especially in the spring and early summer months,
when their trade with Syria was most active, that they lay open to attack
from Medina. In the autumn and winter they sent most of their caravans to
the south, mainly to the Yemen and to Abyssinia.

The information received in Medina about the caravans was seldom
very precise, and there were liable to be last-minute changes of plan. The
Meccan caravans altogether eluded some of the first raids from Medina,
but the Muslims succeeded none the less in making treaties with Bedouin
tribes at strategic points along the coast of the Red Sea.

When the Prophet went out himself he appointed one of his Compan-
ions to be in charge of Medina during his absence, and the first to have this
honour was the Khazrajite chief, Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah. That was eleven
months after the Hijrah; until then the Prophet himself took no part in the
expeditions, and on each occasion when he remained behind he gave the
leader a white banner mounted on a lance. For the first year he sent out
only those of his Companions who were Emigrants; but in September 623
news came that a rich Meccan caravan was returning from the north under
the escort of Umayyah, the chief of Jumah, with a hundred armed men.
Umayyah had always been one of the fiercest enemies of Islam; and
another reason for attack was the prize itself. The merchandise at stake
was said to have been loaded on to as many as 2,500 camels. But the
Emigrants alone would have been no match for a hundred Quraysh, so on
this occasion the Prophet set out with two hundred men, over half of
whom were Helpers. Once again, however, the information had been

XXn, 39-40.

136 Muhammad

inadequate and there was no encounter. They also missed, some three
months after that, another rich caravan, less heavily guarded, which the
Shamsite Abu Sufyan was conducting to Syria, News of it had come too
late, and when the Prophet and his men reached 'Ushayrah in the valley of
Yanbu', which opens out on to the Red Sea south-west of Medina, the
caravan had already passed. But Abu Sufyan would soon be returning
from Syria, perhaps with an even richer load, and then, if God willed, they
would not fail to waylay him.

Although no fighting had taken place as yet, Quraysh were already alert
to the danger of having an enemy established in Yathrib. But it seemed to
them that this would in no way affect their trade with the south. They were
soon to be disillusioned, for the Prophet now received word of a caravan
that was on its way from the Yemen, and he sent his cousin 'Abd Allah ibn
Jahsh with eight other Emigrants to lie in wait for it near Nakhlah,
between Ta'if and Mecca, It was Rajab, one of the four sacred months of
the year, and the Prophet gave 'Abd Allah no instructions to attack the
caravan but simply to bring him news of it. No doubt he wished to see how
well the southern caravans were guarded, for future activity against them.

Soon after the Emigrants reached their destination and had camped at a
point of vantage not far from the main route, a small caravan of Quraysh
passed by them and then stopped and camped nearby, unaware of their
presence. The camels were laden with raisins and leather and other
merchandise. 'Abd Allah and his companions were in a dilemma: the
Prophet's only definite instructions had been to bring him news; but he had
not forbidden them to fight, nor had he made mention of the sacred month.
Were these pre-Islamic conventions still binding, they asked themselves.
They thought also of the Revelation: Permission to fight is given unto those
who fight because they have been wronged . . . those who have been
unjustly driven from their homes.^ They were at war with Quraysh, and
they had recognised at least two of the merchants in the caravan as men of
Makhzum, which of all the clans of Mecca had shown itself most hostile to
Islam. It was the morning of the last day of Rajab; sunset would bring in
Sha'ban, which was not a sacred month, but by that time, though no longer
protected by the calendar, their enemies would be protected by distance,
for they would have reached the sacred precinct; and after much hesitation
they decided to attack. Their first arrow killed a man of Kindah, a
confederate of the clan of *Abdu Shams, wereupon 'Uthman, one of the
men of Makhzum, and Hakam, a freedman, surrendered, though *Uth-
man's brother Nawfal escaped to Mecca.

*Abd Allah and his men took their prisoners and the camels and the
merchandise back to Medina. He set aside a fifth part of the spoils for the
Prophet, dividing the rest among his companions and himself. But the
Prophet refused to accept anything and said: "I did not bid you fight in the
sacred month," whereupon those who had done so thought they were
doomed. Their brethren in Medina blamed them for their violation of
Rajab, while the Jews said it was a bad omen for the Prophet, and Quraysh
set about spreading far and wide the news that Muhammad was guilty of

XXII, 39.

The Threshold of War 137

sacrilege. Then came the Revelation: They question thee about the sacred
month and fighting therein. Say: to fight therein is a grave offence; but
barring men from God's path and sacrilege against Him and the holy
mosque and driving out His people therefrom are graver with God, And
torturing is graver than killing}

The Prophet interpreted this as confirming the traditional ban on
warfare in the sacred month but as making an exception in this particular
case, so he relieved 'Abd Allah and his companions of the fear that lay so
heavily upon them and accepted a fifth of the spoils for the general benefit
of the community. The clan of Makhzum sent ransoms for the two
prisoners, but Hakam their freedman chose to enter Islam and remain in
Medina, so *Uthman returned alone.

It was in this same moon of Sha*ban that there came a Revelation of
great ritual importance. Its opening words refer to the Prophet's extreme
care to face in the right direction for prayer. In the Mosque the direction
was set by the Mihrab, the prayer- niche in the Jerusalem wall; but when he
was outside the town he would check his direction by the sun if it were day
and by the stars at night.

We have seen the turning of thy face unto the sky; and now We shall turn
thee a way that shall well please thee. So turn thou thy face towards the
Inviolable Mosque; and wheresoever ye may be, turn ye your faces
toward it, ^

A Mihrab was forthwith made in the south wall of the Mosque, facing
towards Mecca, and the change was accepted with joy by the Prophet and
his Companions. From that day Muslims have turned in the direction of
the Ka'bah for the performance of the ritual prayer, and by extension for
other rites.

II,zi7. ' 11,144.

XLII

The March to Badr

THE time was now at hand for Abu Sufyan to return with all the wares
that he and his fellows had acquired in Syria. The Prophet sent
Talhah and 'Umar's cousin Sa*id - the son of Zayd the Hanif - to
Hawra* on the sea-shore due west of Medina to bring him news as soon as
the carayan arrived. This would enable him, by a quick march to the
south-west, to overtake it further down the coast. His two scouts were
hospitably received by a chief of Juhaynah who hid them in his house until
the caravan had passed. But he and they might have spared themselves
their pains, for someone in Medina, no doubt one of the hypocrites or one
of the Jews, had already sent word of the Prophet's plans to Abu Sufyan,
who immediately hired a man of the Ghifari tribe, Damdam by name, to go
with all speed to Mecca and urge Quraysh to march out at once with an
army to their rescue, while he himself pressed forward along the coastal
route, travelling by both day and night.

But his was not the only sense of urgency. The Prophet had his reasons
for wishing to remain in Medina as long as possible, for his beloved
daughter Ruqayyah had fallen seriously ill. But personal considerations
could not be taken into account, and rather than risk being too late he
decided not even to wait for the return of his scouts. By the time they
reached Medina he had already set out with an army of Emigrants and
Helpers, three hundred and five men altogether. At that time there were
seventy-seven able-bodied Emigrants in Medina and all these were present
on this occasion except three: the Prophet had told his son-in-law 'Uthman
to stay at home and tend his sick wife; the other two were Talhah and
Sa'id, who arrived back from the coast too late to set out.

At the first halt, which was still in the oasis, the Prophet's cousin Sa'd of
Zuhrah noticed his fifteen-year-old brother 'Umayr looking troubled and
furtive and he asked him what was the matter. "I am afraid," said *Umayr,
"that the Messenger of God will see me and say I am too young and send
me back. And I long to go forth. It might be that God would grant me
martyrdom." As he feared, the Prophet noticed him when he lined up the
troops and said he was too young and told him to go home. But *Umayr
wept and the Prophet let him stay and take part in the expedition. '*He was
so young", said Sa'd, "that I had to fasten the straps of his sword-belt for
him."

There were seventy camels which the men rode by turns, three or four
men to one camel, and three horses, one of which belonged to Zubayr.
The white banner was given to Mus*ab, no doubt because he was of the

The March to Badr 139

clan of 'Abd ad-Dar, whose ancestral right it was to carry the banner of
Quray sh in war. After the vanguard came the Prophet himself, preceded by
two black pennants, one for the Emigrants and one for the Helpers. These
were borne respectively by 'All and Sa*d ibn Mu*adh of Aws. During the
Prophet's absence from Medina, the prayers were to be led by Ibn Umm
Maktum, the blind man referred to in the Revelation He frowned and
turned away when the blind man came unto him}

In Mecca, shortly before the arrival of Damdam, the Prophet's aunt
'Atikah had a dream which terrified her and left her with a conviction of
impending disaster for Quraysh. She sent for her brother *Abbas and told
him what she had seen: "I saw a man riding a camel and he halted in the
valley and cried at the top of his voice: 'Haste ye forth, O men of perfidy,
unto a disaster that in three days shall lay you prostrate.' I saw the people
gather round him. Then he entered the Mosque with the people following
him, and from out of their midst his camel carried him up to the roof of the
Ka'bah, and again he cried out the same words. Then his camel bore him to
the top of Mount Abu Qubays, and yet again he cried out to the people as
before. Then he wrenched free a rock and sent it hurtling down the slope,
and when it reached the foot of the mount it split into fragments, nor was
there any house or any dwelling in Mecca but was smitten with a piece of
it."

'Abbas recounted his sister's dream to 'Utbah's son, Walid, who was his
friend, and Walld told his father, and the news spread throughout the city.
The next day Abu Jahl exclaimed in the presence of 'Abbas, with gleeful
mockery: "O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib, since when hath this prophetess
been uttering her prophecies amongst you? Is it not enough for you that
your men should play the prophet? And must your women do the same?"
'Abbas could not find a rejoinder, but Abu Jahl had his answer the next
day, when the crags of Abu Qubays resounded with the powerful voice of
Damdam. The people streamed out of their houses and out of the Mosque
to where he had halted in the valley. Abu Sufyan had paid him handsome-
ly, and he was determined to play his part well. He had turned round his
saddle and was seated with his back to his camel's head; and in further sign
of calamity he had slit his camel's nose, so that the blood poured forth from
it, and he had rent his own shirt to ribbons. "Men of Quraysh," he
shouted, "the transport camels, the transport camels! Your goods which
are with Abu Sufyan! Muhammad and his companions are upon them!
Help! Help!"

The town was immediately in an uproar. The caravan now in danger
was one of the richest of the year, and many were those who had reason to
fear the loss of it. An army of about a thousand men was quickly mustered.
"Do Muhammad and his fellows think that this will be as the caravan of
Ibn al-Hadrami?" they said, referring to 'Amr, the confederate of *Abdu
Shams who had been killed by an arrow in the sacred month at Nakhlah.
The clan of 'Adi were alone in not taking part in the expedition. Every
other chief of clan led out a contingent except Abu Lahab, who sent in his
own stead a man of Makhzum who owed him money. But the Bani Hashim

^ See p. 64.

I40 Muhammad

and the Bani 1-Muttalib had none the less their interests in the caravan and
felt in honour bound to defend it, so Talib led out a body of men from both
clans, and *Abbas went with them, perhaps intending to act as peace-
maker. Hakim of Asad, Khadijah's nephew, went out with the same
purpose. Like Abu Lahab, Umayyah of Jumah had also decided to stay at
home, for he was an elderly man of excessive corpulence; but while he was
sitting in the Mosque 'Uqbah came to him with a censer of incense which
he placed before him, saying: "Scent thyself with that, Abu *AlT, for thou
art of the women." "God curse thee," said Umayyah, and made ready to
set out with the others.

The Prophet had by now left the direct route from Medina to the
south and was making for Badr, which lay on the coastal route from
Syria to Mecca, to his west. It was at Badr that he hoped to waylay Abu
Sufyan, and he sent ahead two of their allies of Juhaynah, who knew the
district well, to scout for news of the caravan. At Badr they halted on a hill
above the well, and when they went to draw water they overheard a
conversation between two girls from the village about a debt. "The
caravan will come tomorrow or the next day," said one to the other, "and I
will work for them and pay thee what I owe thee." When they heard these
words they made haste back to the Prophet with the news. But if they had
stayed a little longer they would have seen a solitary rider approaching the
well from the west. It was Abu Sufyan himself, who had hastened ahead of
the caravan in order to see whether it was safe to proceed to Mecca by the
nearest route, that is by Badr. On reaching the water he found a villager
there and asked him if he had seen any strangers. He answered that he had
seen two riders who had made a halt on the hill above and who had then
drawn some water and taken it away with them. Abu Sufyan went to their
halting-place and took up some of the camel dung which he broke into
pieces. There were some date stones in it. "By God," he said, "this is the
fodder of Yathrib." He hastened back to his followers, and turning the
caravan away from the road they pressed on at full speed along the shore
by the sea, leaving Badr on their left.

Meantime the two scouts returned to the Prophet with the news that the
caravan was expected to reach Badr on the following day or the day after.
They would certainly stop at Badr, which had long been one of the great
halts on the road between Mecca and Syria, and there was ample time for
the Muslims to surprise them and overpower them.

Then came the news that Quraysh had set out with an army to rescue
their caravan. This had always been considered as a possibility, but now
that it had become a fact the Prophet felt bound to consult his men and to
let theirs be the choice between advancing and retreating. Abu Bakr and
*Umar spoke for the Emigrants in favour of advancing and then, by way of
confirmation of all that they had said, an ally of the Bani Zuhrah who had
only recently come to Medina, Miqdad by name, rose to his feet and
added: "O Messenger of God, do what God hath shown thee to do. We
will not say unto thee as the children of Israel said unto Moses: Go thou
and thy Lord and fight; we shall sit here,^ but we will say: 'Go thou and thy

K.V,24.

The March to Badr 141

Lord and fight, and with you we also will fight, on the right and on the left,
before thee and behind thee.' " *Abd Allah ibn Mas^ud used to tell in after
years of the great light that dawned on the Prophet's face when he heard
those words and as he blessed their speaker. Not that he was surprised, for
he knew that the Emigrants were unreservedly with him. But could the
same be said of all the Helpers who were now present? The army had set
out from Medina in hope of capturing the caravan. But now it seemed that
they might have to encounter something much more formidable. More-
over, when the Helpers had pledged allegiance to him in 'Aqabah, they had
said that they were not responsible for his safety until he had entered their
territory, but that when he was with them they would protect him as they
protected their wives and their children. Would they be prepared to help
him against an enemy now that he was no longer in Yathrib? "Men, give
me your advice," he said, expressing himself in general but meaning the
Helpers, some of whom had already divined his thoughts, though none of
them had yet spoken. But now Sa*d ibn Mu'adh rose to his feet. "It would
seem," he said, "that we are the men thou meanest, O Messenger of God."
And when the Prophet assented he went on: "We have faith in thee and we
believe what thou hast told us, and we testify that what thou hast brought
us is the truth, and we have given thee our binding oaths to hear and obey.
So do what thou wilt, and we are with thee. By Him who hath sent thee
with the truth, if thou shouldst bid us cross yonder sea and didst plunge
into it thyself, we would plunge into it with thee. Not one man of us
would stay behind. Neither are we averse from meeting our enemy to-
morrow. We are well tried in war, trusty in combat. It may be that God
will show thee prowess of ours such as shall bring coolness to thine eyes.'
So lead us on with the blessing of God."

The Prophet rejoiced at his words; and the certainty came to him that
they would indeed have to contend with either the army or the caravan but
not with both. "Onwards," he said, "and be of good cheer, for God the All
Highest hath promised me one of the two parties, and even now it is as if I
saw the enemy lying prostrate."^

Although they were prepared for the worst, there was still hope that they
would be able to attack the caravan and be well on their way back to
Medina, enriched with plunder and prisoners, before the army of Quraysh
arrived. But when they had reached a halt that was less than a day's march
from Badr, the Prophet rode on with Abu Bakr and obtained some
information from an old man from which he concluded that the Meccan
army was already near. Returning to the camp he waited until nightfall and
sent his three cousins 'All, Zubayr and SaM with some others of his
companions to the well of Badr to see if either the army or the caravan or
both had drawn water from it, or if anyone there had had any news of
either party. At the well they chanced upon two men who were loading
their camels with water for the army of Quraysh, and having overpowered
them they brought them back to the Prophet, who was standing in prayer
when they arrived. Without waiting until he had finished they began to

' "Coolness of the eyes" is a favourite term of the Arabs for expressing joy, delight, etc.
' 1.1.435-

142 Muhammad

question the two men, who said that they were the army's water-carriers.
But some of their interrogators preferred to think that they were lying, for
they fervently hoped that it was Abu Sufyan who had sent them to get
water for the caravan, and they set about beating them, until they said "We
are Abu Sufyan's men," and they let them be. The Prophet made the
concluding prostrations to his prayer and gave the greetings of peace, and
said: "When they told you the truth, ye beat them, and when they lied ye let
them be. They are indeed of the army of Quraysh." Then he turned to the
two prisoners. "Tell me, ye two," he said, "of Quraysh, of their where-
abouts." "They are behind this hill," they said, pointing to 'Aqanqal, "on
the further slope of the valley beyond it," "How many men are they?" he
asked. "Many," they said, nor could they answer anything more precise,
so he asked how many beasts they slaughtered. "Some days nine, some
days ten" was the answer. "Then they are between nine hundred and a
thousand," he said, "And what leaders of Quraysh are amongst them?"
They named fifteen and these included, of 'Abdu Shams, the brothers
*Utbah and Shaybah; of Nawfal, Harith and Tu'aymah; of 'Abd ad-Dar,
Nadr, who had pitted his tales of Persia against the Koran; of Asad,
Khadijah's half brother Nawfal; of Makhzum, Abu Jahl; of Jumah,
Umayyah; of 'Amir, Suhayl. Hearing these eminent names, the Prophet
remarked when he rejoined his men: "This Mecca hath thrown unto you
the best morsels of her liver."

It was not long before news of the thousand-strong army reached Abu
Sufyan, and by that time he had reached a point from which his rescuers
were between him and the enemy. Realising that the caravan was now safe,
he sent a messenger to Quraysh, saying: "Ye came out to defend your
camels and your men and your goods; and God hath rescued them,
therefore return." This message reached them when they were already
encamped at Juhfah, a little to the south of Badr. There was yet another
reason why they should advance no further. Gloom had been cast over the
whole camp on account of a dream — almost a vision — that Juhaym, a man
of Muttalib, had had. "Between sleeping and waking," he said, "I saw a
man approach on horseback, leading a camel. Then he halted and said
'Slain are *Utbah and Shaybah and Abu '1-Hakam and Umayyah'" - and
he went on to mention other chiefs of Quraysh that the horseman had
named. "Then," said Juhaym, "I saw him stab his camel in the chest and let
it run loose through the camp, and there was no tent that was not
bespattered with its blood" When Abu Jahl was told of this he said in a
tone of triumphant derision: "Here is yet another prophet from the sons of
Muttalib." He said "yet another" because the two clans of Muttalib and
Hashim were often thought of as one. Then, seeking to dispel the gloom, he
addressed them all: "By God, we will not return until we have been at
Badr. Three days will we stay there; we will slaughter camels and feast and
make flow the wine and the songstresses shall play and sing for us; and the
Arabs will hear how we marched forth and of our mighty gathering, and
they will stand in awe of us for ever. Onwards to Badr!"

Akhnas ibn Shariq had come out with Zuhrah, whose confederate he
was, and he now urged them to pay no attention to Abu Jahl, so they
returned from Juhfah to Mecca, every man of them. Talib also returned

The March to Badr 143

with some of his fellow clansmen, for words had passed between him and
others of Quraysh who had said: "O sons of Hashim, we know that even
though ye have come out with us, your hearts are with Muhammad." But .
'Abbas decided to go on to Badr with the rest of the army, and he took with
him his three nephews, Abu Sufyan and Nawfal, the sons of Harith, and
*AqTl, the son of Abu Talib.

Beyond the hill, a little to the north-east, the Muslims were breaking
camp. The Prophet knew that it was imperative for them to reach the
waters of Badr before the enemy, so he ordered an immediate advance. Not
long after they had started rain began to fall, and he rejoiced in it as a sign
of favour from God, a blessing and an assurance. It refreshed the men and
laid the dust and made firm the soft sand of the valley of Yalyal where now
they were marching; but it would impede the enemy, who had yet to climb
the slopes of 'Aqanqal, which lay over to the left of the Muslims, on the
opposite side of the valley from Badr. The wells were all on the gentler
slopes of the near side, and the Prophet ordered a halt at the first well they
came to. But a man of Khazraj, Hubab ibn al-Mundhir, came to him and
said: "O Messenger of God, this place where now we are - hath God
revealed it unto thee, that we should neither advance nor retreat from it, or
is it a matter cf opinion and strategy of war?" He said that it was merely a
matter of opinion, whereupon Hubab said: "This is not the place to halt,
but take us on, O Messenger of God, until we come unto that one of the
large wells which is nearest the enemy. Let us halt there and stop up the
wells that lie beyond it and make for ourselves a cistern. Then will we fight
the enemy, and all the water will be ours to drink, and they will have
none." The Prophet at once agreed, and Hubab 's plan was carried out in
every detail. The further wells were stopped and the cistern was built, and
every man filled his drinking vessel.

Then Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet and said: Prophet of
God, let us build for thee a shelter and put thy riding camels in readiness
beside it. Then will we meet our enemy, and if God strengthen us and make
us victorious over them, that is what we fervently desire. But, if not, then
thou canst mount and ride to join those whom we left behind us. For as to
some of those who came not out with thee, O Prophet of God, even our
love for thee is not greater than theirs, nor had they stayed behind, if they
had known thou wouldst meet with war. Through them God will protect
thee, and they will give thee good counsel and fight at thy side." The
Prophet praised him and invoked blessings upon him, and the shelter was
fashioned with branches of palms.

That night God sent down a peaceful sleep upon the believers, and they
awoke refreshed.^ It was Friday 17 March ad 6z^ which was 17 Ramadan
in the year ah z} As soon as it was dawn Quraysh marched forth and
climbed the hill of 'Aqanqal. The sun was already up when they reached
the top, and when the Prophet saw them on their richly caparisoned
horses and camels descending the slope into the valley of Yalyal towards
Badr, he prayed: "O God, here are Quraysh: they have come in their
arrogance and their vanity, opposing Thee and belying Thy messenger. O

^ See K. VIII, 11. ^ Anno Hegirae. The Islamic era begins at the Hijrah.

144 Muhammad

Lord, grant us Thy help which Thou didst promise us! O Lord, this mom

destroy them!"

They made their camp at the foot of the slope; and since it appeared to
them that the Muslims were fewer than they had anticipated they sent out
*Umayr of Jumah on horseback to estimate their numbers and to see if they
had any reinforcements in their rear. He reported that there was no sign of
any further troops other than those who were now facing them on the
opposite side of the valley. "But O ye men of Quraysh/' he added, "I do
not think that any man of them will be slain but he shall first have slain a
man of you; and if they slay of you a number that is equal to their number,
what good will be left in Hfe thereafter?'* *Umayr had something of the
reputation of a diviner throughout Mecca, and this added weight to his
words. No sooner had he spoken than Hakim of Asad, Khadijah's
nephew, seized his opportunity and went on foot through the camp until
he came to the men of *Abdu Shams. "Father of Walid," he said to *Utbah,
"thou art the greatest man of Quraysh, and their lord and the one whom
they obey. Wouldst thou be remembered with praise amongst them until
the end of time?" "How shall that be?" said *Utbah. "Lead the men back,"
said Hakim, "and take upon thyself the cause of thy slain confederate
'Amr." He meant that 'Utbah should eliminate one of the strong reasons
for fighting and pay the blood-wite to the kinsmen of the man who had
been killed at Nakhlah, whose brother *Amir had in faa come to take his
revenge on the field of battle. *Utbah agreed to do all that he said, but urged
him to go and speak to Abu Jahl, the man most likely to insist on war.
Meantime he addressed the troops, saying: "Men of Quraysh, ye will gain
naught by fighting Muhammad and his companions. If ye lay them low,
each man of you will for ever look with loathing on the face of another who
hath slain his uncle or his cousin or some yet nearer kinsman. Therefore
turn back and leave Muhammad to the rest of the Arabs. If they slay him,
that is what ye desire; and if not, he will find that ye have shown
self-restraint towards him."

He no doubt intended to approach 'Amir al-Hadrami at once with a
view of paying the blood-wite for his brother, but Abu Jahl was too quick
for him. He taunted *Utbah with cowardice, with being afraid of death for
himself and also for his son Abu Hudhayfah, who was in the ranks of the
enemy. Then he turned to *Amir and urged him not to let slip his
opportunity of revenge for his brother. "Arise," he said, "and remind them
of thy covenant and of the slaying of thy brother." * Amir leapt to his feet,
and frantically stripping off his clothes, he began to utter cries of
lamentation at the top of his voice. "Alas for *Amr! Alas for *Amr !" So the
fire of war was kindled and men's souls were filled with violence and it was
in vain for *Utbah or anyone else to seek to turn them back.

The now general absorbedness in final preparations for battle gave one
man the chance he had been waiting for. Fearing that he might escape in his
absence, Suhayl had brought his son *Abd Allah with him to Badr.
Umayyah, chief of Jumah, had done the same with his son *Ali, whom he
had coerced into forsaking Islam. But unlike *Ali, who was a waverer, * Abd
Allah was unshakeable in his faith; and going out of sight of the camp
behind a nearby hillock, he quickly made his way across the uneven sands

The March to Badr 145

to the Muslim camp, where he went straight to the Prophet, and joy was on
both their faces. Then he joyfully greeted his two brothers-in-law, Abii
Sabrah and Abu Hudhayfah.

XLIII

The Battle of Badr

THE Prophet now drew up his army, and he passed in front of each
man to give them good heart and to straighten the ranks, bearing an
arrow in his hand. "Stand in Hne, O Sawad," he said to one of the
Helpers who was too far forward, and he gave him a slight prick in the
belly with his arrow. "O Messenger of God, thou hast hurt me," said
Sawad, "and God hath sent thee with truth and justice, so give me my
requital." "Take it,'* said the Prophet, laying bare his own belly and
handing him the arrow whereupon Sawad stooped and imprinted a kiss
where it was his due to place the point of the shaft. "What made thee do
this?" said the Prophet. And he answered: "O Messenger of God, we are
now faced with what thou seest; and I desired that at my last moment with
thee - if so it be - my skin should touch thy skin;" and the Prophet prayed
for him and blessed him.

Quraysh had now begun to advance. Seen across the undulating dunes,
the Meccan army appeared to be much smaller than it was. But the Prophet
was fully aware of their true numbers and of the great disparity between
the two hosts, and he now returned to the shelter with Abu Bakr and
prayed for the help which God had promised him.

A light slumber came upon him, and when he woke he said: "Be of good
cheer, Abu Bakr; the help of God hath come to thee. Here is Gabriel and in
his hand is the rein of a horse which he is leading, and he is armed for
war."»

In the history of the Arabs many a battle had been averted at the last
minute, even when two forces were drawn up face to face. But the Prophet
was now certain that the battle would take place, and that this formidable
array was the one of the two parties that he had been promised. The
vultures also knew that carnage was now imminent and they were already
in wait to feed on the carcasses of the slain, some wheeling overhead and
others perched on the rocky slopes in the rear of either army. It was,
moreover, clear from the movements of Quraysh that they were preparing
to attack. They were already near and had now halted within easy reach of
the cistern which the Muslims had made. It seemed likely that their first
move would be to take possession of it.

Aswad of Makhzum strode ahead of the others, clearly intending to
drink. Hamzah went out to meet him and struck him a blow which severed
one of his legs below the knee, and a second blow which killed him. Then

' B. LXIV, lo; I.L 444.

The Battle of Badr 147

*Utbah, still smarting from the taunts of Abu Jahl, stepped from the ranks
and gave the challenge for single combat; and for the further honour of the
family his brother Shaybah and his son WalTd stepped forward on either
side of him. The challenge was immediately accepted by * Awf of the Najjar
clan of Khazraj, who had been one of the first six of the Helpers to pledge
themselves to the Prophet; and with *Awf stepped forward his brother
Mu'awwidh. It was their quarter in Medina that Qaswa' had chosen as the
ultimate halt of the Hijrah. The third to accept the challenge was 'Abd
Allah ibn Rawahah, who had defied his leader Ibn Ubayy in speaking
words of welcome and comfort to the Prophet.

"Who are ye?" said the challengers. When the men answered, *Utbah
said: "Ye are noble and our peers, yet have we naught to do with you. Our
challenge is against none but men of our own tribe." Then the herald of
Quraysh shouted: "O Muhammad, send forth against us our peers from
our own tribe." The Prophet had not intended anything else, but the
eagerness of the Helpers had forestalled him. Now he turned to his own
family, since it was above all for them to initiate the battle. The challengers
were two men of mature age and one youth. "Arise, O 'Ubaydah," he said.
"Arise, O Hamzah. Arise, O *Ali." 'Ubaydah was the oldest and most
experienced man in the army, a grandson of Muttalib, and he faced 'Utbah
while Hamzah faced Shaybah and *Ali faced WalTd. The combats were not
long: Shaybah and Walid were soon lying dead on the ground, while
Hamzah and 'All were unhurt: but at the moment when 'Ubaydah struck
*Utbah to the ground he received from him a sweep of the sword that
severed one of his legs. It was a triple contest, three against three, so
Hamzah and 'All turned their swords on 'Utbah, and Hamzah gave him
the death blow. Then they carried their wounded cousin back to their
camp. He had lost a mortal quantity of blood, and the marrow was oozing
from the stump of his leg. He had only one thought. "Am I not a martyr, O
Messenger of God ?" he said as the Prophet approached him. "Indeed thou
art," he answered.

The tense stillness between the two hosts was now broken by the sound
of an arrow from Quraysh, and a freedman of 'Umar fell to the ground,
fatally wounded. A second arrow pierced the throat of Harithah, a youth
of Khazraj, as he was drinking at the cistern. The Prophet now exhorted his
men saying: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no man
will be slain this day, fighting against them in steadfast hope of his reward,
advancing not retreating, but God shall straightway enter him into
Paradise."* His words were passed on by those who heard them to those
who were out of earshot. 'Umayr of the Salimah clan of Khazraj had a
handful of dates which he was eating. "Wonder of wonders!" he ex-
claimed. "Is there naught between me and my entering Paradise, but that
these men should slay me?", and he flung away the dates and put his hand
to his sword, in eager readiness for the word of command.

*Awf was standing near to the Prophet, disappointed at having lost the
honour of the challenge he had been the first to accept, and he now turned
to him and said: "O Messenger of God, what is it that maketh the Lord

I.I. 445.

148 Muhammad

laugh with joy at His slave?" At once came the answer: "When he plungeth
without mail into the midst of the foe"; and 'Awf began to strip off the coat
of mail he was wearing, while the Prophet took up a handful of pebbles
and shouting at Quraysh "Defaced be those faces!", he hurled the pebbles
at them, conscious that he was hurling disaster. Then he gave the order to
charge. The battle cry he had devised for them, Yd mansur amit,^ resound-
ed from every throat as the men surged forward. * Awf without his mail and
*Umayr were among the first to meet the enemy and both fought until they
were slain. Their deaths and those of *Ubaydah and the two killed by
arrows brought the number of martyrs up to five. Only nine more of the
faithful were to die that day, amongst them that other *Umayr, Sa'd's
younger brother, whom the Prophet had wanted to send home.

Thou threwest not when thou threwest, but it was God that threw,^
These words were part of the Revelation which came immediately after the
battle. Nor were the pebbles the only manifestation of Divine strength
which flowed from the hand of the Prophet on that day. At one point where
the resistance of Quraysh was at its strongest a sword broke in the hands of
a believer, whose first thought was to go and ask the Prophet for another
weapon. It was *Ukkashah, a kinsman of the family of Ja$sh. The Prophet
gave him a wooden club saying: "Fight with this, 'Ukkashah." He took it
and brandished it and it became in his hand a long, strong, gleaming
sword. He fought with it for the rest of Badr and in all the Prophet's other
battles, and it was named aWAwn which means the Divine Help.

When the beUevers were ordered to charge, they did not charge alone, as
well the Prophet knew, for he had been promised: / will help you with a
thousand of the angels, troop on troop? And the Angels also had received a
Divine message: When thy Lord revealed unto the angels: Lo, I am with
you, so make firm the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the
disbelievers. It is for you to strike off their heads, and to smite their every
finger.^

The presence of the Angels was felt by all, as a strength by the faithful
and as a terror by the infidels, but that presence was only visible or audible
to a few, and in varying degrees. Two men of a neighbouring Arab tribe
had gone to the top of a hill to see the issue and to take part - so they hoped
~ in the looting after the battle. A cloud swept by them, a cloud filled with
the neighing of stallions, and one of the men dropped instantly dead. "His
heart burst with fright," said the one who lived to tell of it, judging from
what his own heart had felt.

One of the believers was pursuing a man of the enemy, and the man's
head flew from his body before he could reach him, struck off by an unseen
hand. Others had brief glimpses of the Angels riding on horses whose
hooves never touched the ground, led by Gabriel wearing a yellow turban,
whereas the turbans of the other Angels were white, with one end left
streaming behind them. Quraysh were soon utterly routed and put to
flight, except in small groups where the Angels had not passed. In one of
these Abu Jahl fought on with unabated ferocity until Mu*adh, the brother
of *Awf, smote him to the ground. 'Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, then

* Concise in Arabic but not in English : "O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay ! ' '
2 VIII, 17. ' VIII, 9. ' VIII, 12.

The Battle of Badr 1 49

struck Mu*adh and all but severed his arm at the shoulder. Mu'adh went
on fighting with his good arm, while the other hung limply by its skin at his
side; but when it became too painful he stooped, and putting his foot on his
dead hand jerked himself up, tore off the encumbrant limb, and continued
in pursuit of the enemy. Abu Jahl was still full of life, but Mu*awwidh,
Awf *s second brother, recognised him as he lay there and struck him a
blow which left him dying. Then Mu'awwidh passed on and like 'Awf he
fought until he was slain.

Most of Quraysh escaped, but some fifty were mortally wounded or
killed outright in the battle or overtaken and cut down as they fled. About
the same number were taken captive. The Prophet had said to his
Companions: "I know that men of the sons of Hashim and others have
been brought out despite themselves, without any will to fight us." And he
mentioned by name some of those whose lives should be spared if they
were caught. But most of his army were in any case bent on holding their
captives to ransom rather than putting them to the sword.

Since Quraysh so greatly outnumbered the believers, the possibility of
their rallying and returning to the fight had still to be considered, and the
Prophet was persuaded to withdraw to his shelter with Abu Bakr while
some of the Helpers kept watch. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was standing on guard at
the entrance with drawn sword, and when his fellow warriors started to
bring their captives into the camp the Prophet was struck by the expression
of strong disapproval on his face. "O Sa*d," he said, "it would seem that
what they are doing is hateful in thine eyes." Sa'd vigorously assented; then
he added: "This is the first defeat God hath inflicted on the idolaters; and I
had rather see their men slaughtered than left alive." 'Umar was of the
same opinion, but Abu Bakr was in favour of letting the captives live, in
the hope that sooner or later they might become believers, and the Prophet
inclined to his view. But later in the day, when *Umar returned to the
shelter, he found the Prophet and Abu Bakr in tears on account of a
Revelation which had come: It is not for a prophet to hold captives until he
hath made great slaughter in the land.^ Ye would have for yourselves the
gains of this world and God would have for you the Hereafter y and God is
Mighty, Wise. But the Revelation then made it clear that the decision to
spare the captives had been accepted by God and should not now be
revoked; and the Prophet was given a message for the captives themselves:
O Prophet, say unto those captives who are in your hands: If God
knoweth any good in your hearts. He will give you better than that which
hath been taken from you, and He will forgive you. Verily God is
Forgiving, Merciful.^

There was, however, one man, Abu Jahl, who clearly could not be
allowed to Uve. The general opinion was that he had been killed and the
Prophet gave orders that his body should be searched for. *Abd Allah ibn
Mas*ud went out again to the battlefield and searched until he found the
man who had done more than any other to stir up hatred of Islam amongst
the people of Mecca. Abu Jahl still had enough life in him to recognise the
enemy who now stood over him. 'Abd Allah had been the first man to

^ It was for wrongfully sparing a captive that Saul was deprived of his kingship ( i Samuel
15). ' vni,7o.

150 Muhammad

recite the Koran aloud in front of the Ka'bah, and Abu Jahl had struck him
a severe blow and wounded him in the face, for he was merely a
confederate of Zuhrah and a poor one at that, his mother having been a
slave, ' Abd Allah now placed his foot on the neck of Abu Jahl, who said:
"Thou hast climbed high indeed, little shepherd," Then he asked him
which way the fortunes of war had swung that day, his implication being
that next time they would swing in the opposite direction. "God and His
messenger have won," he answered. Then he cut off his head and took it to
the Prophet.

Abu Jahl was not the only chief Of Quraysh to be killed after the fighting
had finished. *Abd ar-Rahman ibn *Awf was carrying coats of mail which
he had taken as booty, and he passed by the corpulent Umayyah, who had
lost his mount and was unable to escape. With him was his son * All, whose
hand he was holding, Umayyah called out to his one-time friend: "Take me
prisoner, for I am worth more than coats of mail." *Abd ar-Rahman
agreed, and throwing down the mail he took him and his son each by a
hand. But as he was leading them towards the camp Bilal saw them and
recognised his former master and torturer. "Umayyah," he exclaimed,
"the head of disbelief! May I not live if he survive!" 'Abd ar-Rahman
indignantly protested that they were his prisoners, but Bilal repeated his
cry: "May I not live if he survive!" "Wilt thou not hear me, thou son of a
black mother?" said the outraged captor, whereupon Bilal shouted with all
the power of the voice that had won him the function of muezzin: "O
Helpers of God, the head of disbelief, Umayyah! May I not live if he
survive!" Men came running from all sides and narrowly encircled *Abd
ar-Rahman and his two captives. Then a sword was drawn and *Ali was
struck to the ground but not killed. *Abd ar-Rahman let go the father's
hand. "Make thine own escape," he said, "yet no escape there is, for by
God I can avail thee nothing!" Pushing him aside the men closed in upon
the prisoners with their swords and quickly made an end of them both.
*Abd ar-Rahman used to say in after years: "God have mercy on Bilal ! My
coats of mail were lost to me, and he robbed me of my two prisoners."^

The Prophet gave orders that the bodies of all the infidels slain in the
battle should be thrown into a pit; and when the body of *Utbah was being
dragged towards it the face of his son Abu Hudhayfah turned pale, and
was filled with sorrow. The Prophet felt for him, and gave him a look of
compassion, whereupon Abu Hudhayfah said: "O Messenger of God, it is
not that I question thy command as to my father and the place where they
have thrown him. But I used to know him as a man of wise counsel,
forbearance and virtue, and I had hoped that these qualities would lead
him unto Islam; and when I saw what had befallen him, and when I
remembered what state of disbelief he died in after my hopes for him, it
saddened me." Then the Prophet blessed Abu Hudhayfah and spoke to
him words of kindness.

The peace and quiet of the camp was soon broken by voices raised in
anger, for those who had stayed behind to guard the Prophet demanded a
share of the booty, and those who had pursued the enemy and captured

The Bank ofBadr 151

men and armour and weapons were unwilling to give up what their own
hands had taken. But before the Prophet had time to restore harmony by
ordering an equitable distribution of all that had been captured, the
desired effect was achieved more simply and more immediately by a
Revelation: They will question thee concerning the spoils of war. Say: The
spoils of war are for God and the messenger,^ So the Prophet ordered that
everything that had been taken, including the captives, should be brought
together and no longer be considered as the private property of any
individual. The order was at once obeyed without question.

The most eminent of the captives was the chief of 'Amir, Suhayl, cousin
of Sawdah and brother of her first husband. Others more closely connected
with the Prophet were his uncle 'Abbas, his son-in-law, Zaynab's husband
Abu l-*As, and his cousins *Aqrl and NawfaJ. He gave a general order that
all the captives should be well treated, though clearly they had to be bound.
But the thoughts of his uncle suffering such duress prevented the Prophet
from sleeping that night, and he gave orders that his bonds should be
loosed. Other captives received less indulgent treatment from their nearest
of kin. Mus'ab passed by his brother Abu 'Aziz as he was being bound by
the Helper who had captured him, and he said: "Bind him fast for his
mother is rich, and it may be that she will ransom him from thee."
"Brother," said Abu 'Aziz, '*is this how thou dost commend me to others?"
"He is now my brother in thy stead," said Mus'ab. None the less, Abii
'Aziz used to tell in after years of the good treatment he received from the
Helpers, who took him to Medina whence his mother ransomed him for
4,000 dirhems.

As soon as it became clear that the eight hundred or more Meccan troops
still at large had been routed beyond possibility of rallying, the Prophet
sent *Abd Allah ibn Rawahah to take the good tidings of victory to the
people of Upper Medina, that is, the more southerly part of the city, and he
sent Zayd to the people of Lower Medina. He himself remained with the
army at Badr; and that night he went and stood by the pit into which the
bodies of the enemies of Islam had been thrown. "O men of the pit," he
said, "kinsmen of your Prophet, ill was the kinship ye showed him. Liar ye
called me, when others took me in; against me ye fought, when others
helped me to victory. Have ye found it to be true, what your Lord promised
you? I have found it to be true, what my Lord promised me." Some of his
Companions overheard him and wondered at his speaking to dead bodies.
"Your hearing of what I say is not better than theirs," he said, "but they
cannot answer me."^

Early next morning he set off for Medina with his army and the spoils.
Two of the most valuable captives, that is those whose families could be
relied upon to pay the full ransom of 4,000 dirhems, were Nadr of 'Abd
ad-Dar and 'Uqbah ^ of 'Abdu Shams. But these were two of the worst
enemies of Islam, and if they were allowed to return they would im-
mediately resume their evil activities, unless the Muslims' victory at Badr
against such odds had made them reflect. The Prophet's eye was now
constantly upon them; but there was no sign of any change of heart in

VIII, I. ' U.454, ' Seep. 98.

I5Z Muhammad

either man, and during the march it became clear to him that it was not in
accordance with the Will of God that they should be left alive. At one of the
first halts he gave orders that Nadr should be put to death, and it was *Ali
who beheaded him. At a subsequent halt *Uqbah suffered the same fate at
the hands of a man of Aws. The Prophet divided the remainder of the
captives and the rest of the spoils at a halt within three days' march of
Medina, giving insofar as was possible an equal share to every man who
had taken part in the expedition.

By that time Zayd and *Abd Allah ibn Rawahah had reached Medina,
and there was great rejoicing amongst all except the Jews and the
hypocrites. But Zayd was given sad news in exchange for his good news:
Ruqayyah was dead; 'Uthman and Usamah had just returned from
burying her. The lamentations in that part of the city were still further
increased when Zayd told *Afra' of the death of her two sons 'Awf and
Mu*awwidh. Sawdah went between her own house and theirs to join the
mourning in both. For 'Afra* there was joy mingled with sorrow on
account of the glorious manner of her sons' deaths. But Zayd had also to
tell Rubayyi* of the death of her youthful son Flarithahibn Suraqah, whose
neck had been pierced by an arrow as he was drinking at the cistern; and as
soon as the Prophet himself returned a few days later she came to him and
asked him about her son; for she was troubled by the thought that the
youth had been slain before the battle had started and before he had had
time to strike a blow for Islam. "O Messenger of God," she said, "wilt thou
not tell me of Harithah, so that if he be in Paradise I may bear my loss with
patience, and if not I may do penance for him with weeping." The Prophet
had already answered such questions in general, for he had promised that a
believer is rewarded for what he purposes, even if he should not achieve it:
"Deeds are counted according to the intention."^ But he now answered her
in particular, saying: "Mother of Harithah, in Paradise are many Gardens,
and verily thy son hath attained unto the all-highest, Firdaws."^

B.1,1. ^ B.LVI,i4.

XLIV

The Return of the
Vanquished

THE army of Quraysh made its way back to Mecca in small groups,
preceded or followed by single individuals. One of the first to arrive
with the news was the Hashimite Abu Sufyan whose brother
Nawfal had been captured. Abu Sufyan's hostility towards the new
rehgion had spurred him to write verses against it and against his cousin
and foster-brother, the Prophet. But the experience of Badr had greatly
shaken him. His first thought was to visit the Ka*bah, and it happened that
his uncle Abu Lahab was sitting in the large tent that was known as the tent
of Zamzam. Seeing his nephew, Abu Lahab called out to him to come and
sit with him and tell him what had happened, "There is no more to it than
this," said Abu Sufyan. "We met the enemy and turned our backs, and they
drove us in flight or took captives even as they pleased. Nor can I blame any
of our folk, for we had to face not only them but also men in white on
piebald horses between heaven and earth who spared nothing and nothing
could stand up against them."

Now Umm al-Fadl was sitting in a corner of the tent, and with her was
Abu Rafi', one of ' Abbas's slaves, who was making arrows. Like her he was
a Muslim, and they had both kept their Islam secret from all save a few. But
Abu Rafi* could not contain himself for joy at the news of the Prophet's
victory; and when he heard speak of the "men in white between heaven
and earth" he exclaimed in wonder and in triumph: "Those were the
Angels." Immediately Abu Lahab was overcome by a paroxysm of rage
and he struck Abu Rafi* a wounding blow in the face. The slave tried to
retaliate, but he was slight and weak, and the thickset ponderous Abu
Lahab bore him to the ground, knelt on him and struck him again and
again. Then Umm al-Fadl took up a wooden post which was sometimes
used to reinforce the tent poles, and she brought it down with all her
strength on the head of her brother-in-law, sphtting the skin and flesh
away from his skull in a long gash that was never to heal. **Wilt thou treat
him as of no account,'* she cried, *'now that his master is away and cannot
protect him?" The wound putrefied, and within a week his whole body
was covered with festering pustules from which he died.

When further news of the battle was brought, and when the bereaved
began to bewail their dead, a decision was quickly made in the Assembly

154 Muhammad

that they should be told to restrain themselves. "Muhammad and his
companions," it was said to them, "will have news of this and rejoice." As
to the kinsmen of the captives, they were urged to delay sending any offers
of ransom to Yathrib. Through the deaths of so many eminent men, the
Umayyad Abu Sufyan had become, in the eyes of many, the leading man of
Quraysh; and as if to set an example he said with regard to his two sons,
Hanzalah and 'Amr, the one killed and the other made captive: "Must I
suffer the twofold loss of my blood and my wealth? They have slain
Hanzalah, and must I now ransom 'Amr? Leave him with them. Let them
keep him as long as they please!"

Abu Sufyan's fiery wife Hind was not the mother of either Hanzalah or
*Amr; but at the outset of the battle she had lost her father, 'Utbah, her
uncle Shaybah, and her brother WalTd; and, though she held back her
lamentations, she vowed that when Quraysh took their revenge on the
Muslim army - as take it they must - she would eat raw the liver of
Hamzah who had slain her uncle and given her father the death-blow.

As to the rich caravan load which Abu Sufyan had brought safely to
Mecca, it was unanimously agreed in the Assembly that all the profits
should be devoted to raising an army so large and so powerfully equipped
that it could not fail to crush any resistance that Yathrib might be able to
put up against it; and this time women would march out with the men, to
urge them on and spur them to excel themselves in deeds of valour. It was
also agreed, to the same purpose, to send messengers to all their many allies
throughout Arabia, summoning them to join in their attack, and giving
them what they thought to be powerful reasons why the followers of the
new religion should be considered as a common enemy.

While respecting the precept of the Assembly about lamentation, most
of Quraysh disregarded what had been said about ransoming, and men
from almost every clan were soon on their way to Medina in order to make
terms with the captors and set free one or more of their kinsmen or allies.
Abu Sufyan kept his word; but at the next Pilgrimage he detained one of
the pilgrims from the oasis, an old man of Aws, and said he would not
release him until his son 'Amr had been returned to him; and the pilgrim's
family persuaded the Prophet to agree to this exchange.

XLV

The Captives

HE captives arrived in Medina with their guards a day after the

arrival of the Prophet. Sawdah, who had gone once more to visit

JL *Afra', was astonished on her return to see her cousin and brother-
in-law Suhayl, the chief of her clan, sitting in a corner of the room with his
hands tied to his neck. The sight aroused long-forgotten sentiments and
niade her forget for the moment all that had replaced them. "O Abu
Yazid," she expostulated, "all too readily didst thou surrender. Thou
shouldst have died a noble death." "Sawdah!" exclaimed the Prophet,
whose presence she had not noticed. The reproof in his voice immediately
brought her back, not without a sense of shame, from her pre-Islamic past
to her Islamic present. There were still hopes that Suhayl would enter
Islam, and surely the impact of the now flourishing and already powerful
theocracy could not fail to impress him and the other captives. But the
Prophet relied on his followers to put Islamic and not pagan ideas into their
heads. Again he turned to the now repentant Sawdah: "Wouldst thou
foment trouble against God and His Messenger?"

The eminence of Suhayl, like that of Abu Sufyan, had been greatly
enhanced by the deaths of so many leaders. His influence could have been
expeaed to bring many waverers to Islam from his own clan and also from
others; but his stay in Medina was cut short, for the Bani *Amir quickly
sent one of their clan to ransom him, and the man consented to remain as
hostage while his chief went back to Mecca to arrange the payment of the
sum agreed upon.

Each of the captives had been shared between three or more of the
combatants, and the group of Helpers who owned 'Abbas now brought
him to the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of God, allow us to forgo the
ransom due to us for our sister's son." By "sister" they meant the captive's
grandmother, Salma. But the Prophet said: "Ye shall not remit a single
dirhem." Then he turned to his uncle, saying: "Ransom thyself *Abbas and
thy two nephews, *Aqil and Nawfal, and thine ally 'Utbah, for thou art a
rich man." *Abbas protested: "I was already a Muslim, but the people
made me march out with them." The Prophet answered: "As to thine
Islam, God knoweth best. If what thou sayest is true. He will reward thee.
But outwardly thou hast been against us, so pay us thy ransom." 'Abbas
replied that he had no money, but the Prophet said: "Where then is the
money thou didst leave with Umm al-Fadl? Ye two were alone when thou
didst say to her: 'If I should be slain, so much is for Fadl, for 'Abd Allah, for
Qitham and for *Ubayd Allah,' " It was then only that faith truly entered

156 Muhammad

the heart of *Abbas. "By Him who sent thee with the truth," he said, "none
knew of this but she and I. Now I know that thou art the Messenger of
God."^ And he agreed to ransom his two nephews and his confederate as
well as himself.

One of the prisoners who was quartered with the Prophet was his
son-in-law Abu l-*As, whose brother * Amr came from Mecca with a sum of
money sent by Zaynab to ransom him; and with the money she sent a
necklace of onyx which her mother had given her on her wedding day.
When the Prophet saw the necklace he turned pale, recognising it at once as
Khadijah's. Deeply moved, he said to those who had a share in the
prisoner: "If ye should see fit to release her captive husband and return to
her the ransom, it is for you to do so.'* They at once agreed, and both the
money and the necklace were returned together with Abu l-*As himself. It
had been hoped that he would enter Islam while he was in Medina, but he
did not, and when he left for Mecca the Prophet told him that on his return
he should send Zaynab to Medina, and this he sadly promised to do. The
Revelation had made it clear that a Muslim woman could not be the wife of
a pagan man.

*Abd Allah ibn Jahsh had a share in Walld, the youngest son of the now
dead Walid, the former chief of Makhziim. The youth's two brothers
Khalid and Hisham came to ransom him. 'Abd Allah would take no less
than four thousand dirhems, and Khalid, the captive's half-brother, was
unwilling to give so much, but the full brother Hisham reproached him
saying: "True, he is not thy mother's son," whereupon Khalid consented.
The Prophet, however, was against the transaction and told *Abd Allah
that he should ask them for nothing less than their father's famous arms
and armour. Khalid once more refused, but again Hisham won him over;
and when they had brought the heirloom to Medina they set off with their
brother again for Mecca. But at one of the first halts he slipped away from
them and returned to Medina, where he went to the Prophet and made his
formal entry into Islam, pledging allegiance to him. His brothers followed
hard after him, and, when they saw what had happened, the outraged
Khahd said to him: "Why was this not done before thou wert ransomed,
and before our father's treasured legacy had left our hands? Why didst
thou not become a follower of Muliammad then, if that was thy purpose?"
Walld answered that he was not the man to let Quraysh say of him: "He
did but follow Muhammad to escape from having to pay ransom." Then
he went back with his brothers to Mecca to fetch some of his possessions,
not suspecting that they would do anything against him. But once there
they imprisoned him with 'Ayyash and Salamah, the two Muslim half
brothers of Abu Jahl, whom *Ikrimah the son of Abu Jahl still kept under
guard after his father's death. The Prophet used often to pray for the escape
of all three of them and of Hisham of Sahm and others who were forcibly
detained in Mecca.

Jubayr the son of Mut/im came to ransom his cousin and two of their
confederates, and the Prophet received him graciously. He told him that if
Mut*im had been alive and had come to him on behalf of the prisoners he

^ Tab. 1344.

The Captives 157

would have surrendered them to him free of ransom. Jubayr was impressed
by everything he saw in Medina; and one evening, at sunset, he stayed
outside the Mosque and listened to the prayer. The Prophet recited the
Surah named at-Tiir^ The Mount, which warns of the Judgement and of
Hell, and then speaks of the wonders of Paradise. It ends with the words:
Wait patiently for the fulfilment of thy Lord's decree, for verily thou art in
Our sight; and glorify thy Lord with praise when thou uprisest, and glorify
Him in the night, and at the dimming of the stars.^

"It was then,'* said Jubayr, "that faith took root in my heart."^ But he
would not yet listen to its promptings for he was too engrossed with
thoughts of his beloved uncle's recent death at Badr. Tu'aymah, Mut'im's
brother, was one of those whom Hamzah had killed, and Jubayr felt
bound in honour to avenge his death; and fearing lest he should weaken in
his purpose, he left for Mecca as soon as he had reached an agreement
about the ransoms.

Most of the ransomers were at least courteous to the Prophet. An
exception was Ubayy of Jumah, the brother of Umayyah and bosom friend
of 'Uqbah, both of whom had been killed after the battle. As he was leaving
with his ransomed son he said: "O Muhammad, I have a horse named
* Awd that I feed every day on many measures of corn. I shall slay thee when
I am riding him.'* "Nay," said the Prophet, "it is I who shall slay thee, if

Godwin."^

Meantime in Mecca Ubayy 's two nephews, Safwan and 'Umayr, were
speaking with savage bitterness about the irretrievable loss caused to
Quraysh by the death of those leaders who had been thrown into the pit at
Badr. Safwan was the son of Umayyah and Hkely to become chief of Jumah
now that his father was dead. His cousin 'Umayr was the man who had
ridden round the Muslim army at Badr and estimated its strength. "By
God, there is no good in life, now that they are gone," said Safwan. *Umayr
agreed, and he was nearer to sincerity than the other. His son was one of
the captives, but he was too heavily in debt to ransom him, and he felt so
oppressed with his life that he was prepared to sacrifice it to the common
cause. "But for a debt I cannot pay," he said, "and a family I fear to leave
destitute, I would ride out to Muhammad and kill him." "On me be thy
debt," said Safwan, "and thy family be as mine ! I will care for them as long
as they live. They shall not want for aught that is mine to give them."
'Umayr immediately accepted his offer, and they swore to keep it a secret
between the two of them until their end had been achieved. Then he
sharpened his sword, smeared it with poison, and set off for Yathrib on the
pretext of ransoming his son.

When he reached Lower Medina, the Prophet was sitting in the Mosque.
On seeing 'Umayr girt with his sword, 'Umar stopped him from entering,
but the Prophet called to him to let the Juraahiite approach. So 'Umar said
to some Helpers who were with him: "Go ye in unto the Messenger of God
and sit with him and be on your guard for him against this villain, for he is
in no wise to be trusted." 'Umayr wished them good day - a salutation of
paganism - and the Prophet said: "God hath given us a better greeting than

01,48-9. 2 B.LII,Z5. ' W.Z51.

158 Muhammad

thine, O *Umayr. It is Peace, the greeting of the people of Paradise." Then
he asked him why he had come, and *Umayr mentioned his son as the
reason. "Why then that sword?" said the Prophet. "God damn swords!"
said *Umayr. "Have they done us any good service?" "Tell me the truth,"
said the Prophet. "To what end hast thou come?" And when 'Umayr
reiterated the pretext of his son, the Prophet repeated to him word for
word the conversation he had had in the Hijr with Safwan. "So Safwan
took upon himself thy debt and thy family," he concluded, "that thou
shouldst slay me; but God hath come between thee and that." "Who told
thee this," cried 'Umayr, "for by God there was no third man with us?"
"Gabriel told me," said the Prophet. "We called thee liar," said *Umayr,
"when thou didst bring us tidings from Heaven. But praise be to God who
hath guided me unto Islam. I testify that there is no god but God, and that
Muhammad is the messenger of God." The Prophet turned to some of
those who were present and said. "Instruct your brother in his religion,
and recite unto him the Koran; and release for him his captive son."*

*Umayr was eager to return to Mecca that he might try to bring others to
Islam, $afwan amongst them. The Prophet gave him permission to go and
he made many converts; but Safwan considered him to be a traitor, and
resolutely refused to speak to him or have anything to do with him. After
some months *Umayr returned to Medina as an Emigrant.

When Abu 1-* As returned to Mecca, he told Zaynab that he had promised
her father that he would send her to Medina. They agreed that their little
daughter Umamah should go with her. Their son *Ali had died in infancy,
and Zaynab was now expeaing a third child. When all the preparations
had been made for the journey, Abu l-*As sent with them his brother
Kinanah as escort. They had kept their plans secret, but they none the less
set off in daylight, and there was much talk about it in Mecca, until finally
some of Quraysh decided to follow them and to bring Zaynab back into
the bosom of the clan of * Abdu Shams to which she belonged by marriage.
When they were close upon them, a man of Fihr, Ha b bar by name,
galloped on ahead and circled closely round them, brandishing his spear at
Zaynab as she sat in her howdah with Umamah, and then rejoining the
others who were now close upon them. Kinanah dismounted, took his
bow, knelt facing them, and emptied his quiver onto the sand in front of
him. "Let one of you come near me," he said, "and by God, I will put an
arrow into him." The men drew back as he bent his bow. Then, after a brief
consultation, his chief, Abu Sufyan, and one or two others dismounted and
walked forward, asking him to unbend his bow and discuss the matter
with them. Kinanah agreed, and Abu Sufyan said to him: "It was a grave
mistake to bring the woman out publicly over the heads of the people,
when thou knowest the disaster that hath befallen us, and all that
Muhammad hath done against us. It will be taken as a sign that we have
been humbled, and men will say that it is nothing but impotence on our
part. By my life, it is not that we want to keep her from her father, nor
would that serve us for revenge. But take the woman back to Mecca, and

I.S. IV, 147; U. 472-3.

The Captives iS9

when tongues have stopped wagging about our meekness, and when the
news hath spread that we went out after her and brought her back, then
steal her out secretly to join her father." Kinanah accepted this proposal,
and they all returned to Mecca together. Shortly afterwards Zaynab had a
miscarriage which was attributed to the fright caused her by Habbar.
When she had recovered, and when time enough had elapsed, Kinanah
took her out with Umamah under cover of the night, and escorted them as
far as the valley of Yajaj, some eight miles from Mecca. There they were
met by Zayd, as had previously been arranged, and he brought them safely
to Medina.

XLVI

Bani Qaynuqd'

IT had long been clear that the Jews did not consider the Prophet's
covenant as binding upon them, and that most of them preferred the
pagan idolaters to the Muslim worshippers of the One God. While
affirming the piety and trustworthiness of individuals amongst the Jews,
the Revelations were now full of warnings against the majority. The
Prophet and his followers were urged to beware of them: They will do all
they can to ruin you, and they love to cause you trouble. Their hatred is
clear from what their mouths utter, and what their breasts conceal is
greater,^

There could be no doubt that the hopes of the Jews were turning more
and more to the Prophet's own tribe as the chief means of obliterating the
new religion and thus of restoring the oasis of Yathrib to what it had been
in the past. His movements were regularly reported to Mecca; and if
Quraysh marched out against him as far as the Jewish fortresses to the
South of Medina, that is to within about half a day's journey from his
Mosque, it seemed certain that the Meccan army would be reinforced at
the crucial moment by powerful Jewish contingents.

If good befall you, it is evil in their eyes, and if evil befall you they rejoice
thereatr This was plainly demonstrated by the Jews' reaction to the victory
at Badr. When the news came, the tribes of Qaynuqa', Nadir and
Qurayzah were unable to conceal their dismay. Particularly striking was
the case of Ka'b the son of Ashraf. His father was an Arab of the tribe of
Tayy, but Ka*b counted himself as being, through his mother, of the Bani
Nadir, who accepted him as one of themselves because his mother was a
Jewess. He had become in fact a prominent member of the tribe, pardy
owing to his wealth and his strong personality, and also because he was a
poet of some fame. When he heard the tidings that Zayd and 'Abd Allah
brought, with the names of all the outstanding men of Quraysh who had
been killed, he exclaimed: "By God, if Muhammad have slain these men,
then is the inside of the earth better than its outside"; and when he had
made certain that the tidings were true he immediately left the oasis before
the return of the Prophet, and went to Mecca where he composed a lament
for Abii Jahl, 'Utbah, Shaybah and others of the dead. At the same time he
urged Quraysh to redeem their honour and take their revenge by mustering
an invincible quantity of troops and leading them against Yathrib.

News of Ka*b's activities came to Medina; but Ka'b was out of reach for

» III, 1 1 8. 2 111,120.

Bani Qaynuqd' 161

the moment, and more immediate action was called for against a Jewish
tribe other than his. The Prophet was especially well informed of the
treachery and hatred of the Bani Qaynuqa', because 'Abd Allah ibn Sallam
had been one of their leading men, and was well versed in their ways.
Moreover it was they who were the allies of the Khazrajite Ibn Ubayy,
leader of the hypocrites; and their presence was more felt than that of the
other Jewish tribes because their settlements were close to the city itself,
whereas the Bani Nadir and Qurayzah, the allies of Aws, lived at some
distance outside it.

The Prophet had recently received the command: If thou fearest
treachery from any folk, then throw back unto them their covenant. Verily
God loveth not the treacherous.^ But the Revelation also said: If they
incline unto peace, incline thou also unto it, and trust in God? He was
therefore unwilling to take irrevocable action if anything could be gained
by gentler means, and on one of the first days after his return from Badr he
went to meet the Bani Qaynuqa* in their market place in the south of
Medina. Reflecting on the miracle of Badr might lead them to a change of
heart, so he warned them not to call down upon themselves the anger of
God which had just now fallen upon Quraysh, "O Muhammad," they
answered "be not deluded by that encounter, for it was against men who
had no knowledge of war, and so thou didst get the better of them. But by
God, if we make war on thee, thou shalt know that we are the men to be
feared." The Prophet turned and left them, and they imagined for the
moment that they had triumphed.

A few days later, in the same market-place, an incident occurred which
brought things to a climax: a Muslim woman who had come to sell or
exchange some goods was grossly insulted by one of the Jewish gold-
smiths. A Helper who happened to be present came to her rescue and the
offender was killed in the fight which ensued, whereupon the Jews fell
upon the Muslim and killed him. His family then demanded vengeance and
proceeded to rouse up the Helpers against the Qaynuqa*. But blood had
been shed on both sides, and the affair could easily have been settled and
reduced to its true proportions if the Jews had demanded the arbitration of
the Prophet according to the covenant. But this they scorned to do; and,
deciding that the time had come to teach the intruders a lesson, they sent
for reinforcements to their two former allies of Khazraj, Ibn Ubayy and
*Ubadah ibn Samit, while they themselves withdrew - for the moment, as
they thought - into their own powerfully fortified and well provisioned
strongholds. They could muster an army of seven hundred men, which was
more than double the Muslim army at Badr; and they relied on at least as
many men again from Ibn Ubayy and *Ubadah. When these appeared they
no doubt intended to issue from their fortresses and show the Prophet that
their recent threats had not been empty words.

But in fact those threats had been their own self-condemnation; and
within a few hours they were astonished and dismayed to find themselves
blockaded on all sides by an army which outnumbered their own and
which demanded their unconditional surrender.

VIII, 58, ^ VIII, 61.

1 62 Muhammad

Ibn Ubayy went to consult with 'Ubadah, but *Ubadah was obdurate
that no former treaty could stand in opposition to the covenant, and he
renounced all responsibility for Qaynuqa*. As for Ibn Ubayy, it was not in
his nature to cut in one moment the links which he had so deliberately
forged over the years between himself and such powerful allies. But it was
impossible for him to be blind, as the Jews were blind, to the present
devotion of most of his fellow townsmen to the Prophet, he had too often
tasted the bitterness of being clearly shown by his once devoted followers
that their allegiance to him was far outweighed by another allegiance. Two
years previously, with the help of the besieged from within, he could have
broken the blockade of a larger army. But now he knew that once the
Prophet had taken action he himself could do nothing against him. So the
Bani Qaynuqa' waited in vain behind their battlements, and their hopes
dwindled to despair as day after day passed without any sign of help. For
two weeks they held out; and then they surrendered unconditionally.

Ibn Ubayy now came to the camp and approaching the Prophet he said:
"O Muhammad, treat my confederates well." The Prophet put him off,
and then when the demand was repeated he turned away from him,
whereupon Ibn Ubayy clutched him by his coat of mail, thrusting his hand
into the neck of it. The Prophet's face grew dark with anger. "Let go thy
hold," he said. "By God. I will not," said Ibn Ubayy, "until thou dost
promise to treat them well. Four hundred men without mail and three
hundred mailed - they protected me from the red and from the black.^ Wilt
thou cut them down in one morning?" "I grant thee their lives," said the
Prophet. But the Revelation had commanded, with regard to those who
broke treaties with him: If thou overcomest them in war, then make of
them an example, to strike fear into those that are behind them, that they
may take heed\^ and, having decided that the Bani Qaynuqa' should forfeit
all their possessions and be exiled, he told 'Ubadah to escort them out of
the oasis. They took refuge with a kindred Jewish settlement to the
north-west in Wadi l-Qura, and with their help they eventually settled on
the borders of Syria.

They were metalworkers by trade, and the Emigrants and Helpers were
greatly enriched by the weapons and armour that were divided amongst
them after the Prophet had taken his legal fifth for himself and his
theocratic state.

' Seep, 112,, note. ^ Vlll, 57.

XLVII

Deaths and
Marriages

NE of the immediate acts of the Prophet on his return from Badr

had been to visit the grave of his daughter Ruqayyah, and Fatimah

V->/ went with him. This was the first bereavement they had suffered
within their closest family circle since the death of Khadijah, and Fatimah
was greatly distressed by the loss of her sister. The tears poured from her
eyes as she sat beside her father at the edge of the grave, and he comforted
her and sought to dry her tears with the corner of his cloak. He had
previously spoken against lamentations for the dead, but this had led to a
misunderstanding, and when they returned from the cemetery the voice of
*Umar was heard raised in anger against the women who were weeping for
the martyrs of Badr and for Ruqayyah. "'Umar, let them weep," he said.
And then he added: "What cometh from the heart and from the eye, that is
from God and His Mercy, but what cometh from the hand and from the
tongue, that is from Satan. By the hand he meant the beating of the breast
and the lacerating of the cheeks, and by the tongue he meant the vociferous
clamour in which all the women joined as a social gesture.

Fatimah was the youngest of his daughters, and she was at this time
about twenty years old. To his family he had already spoken of *A1T as the
most fitting husband for her, but there had been no formal contract. Abu
Bakr and *Umar had both asked for her hand, but the Prophet had put
them off, not by saying that she was already promised to another but by
telling them that he must wait for the time appointed by Heaven. It was
only in the weeks which followed his return from Badr that he became
certain that the time had come and he then spoke words of encouragement
to * All in the wish that he should formally ask for her hand, * All was at first
hesitant on account of his extreme poverty. He had inherited nothing from
his father, for the law of the new religion forbade a believer to inherit from
a disbeliever. But he had acquired a humble dwelling not far from the
Mosque and, since there was no doubt about the Prophet's wishes, he
allowed himself to be persuaded. After the formal contract had been made,
the Prophet insisted on a wedding feast. A ram was sacrificed and some of
the Helpers brought offerings of grain. Abu Salamah, cousin to both

I.S. VIII, 24.

164 Muhammad

bridegroom and bride, was anxious to help, the more so since he owed so
much to 'All's father, who had given him protection against Abu Jahl and
other hostile members of his clan. So Umm Salamah went together with
*A*ishah to make ready the house for the bridal couple and to prepare the
food. Soft sand was brought from the river bed and they scattered it over
the earthern floor of the house. The bridal bed was a sheepskin and there
was a faded coverlet of striped cloth from the Yemen. For a pillow they
stuffed a leather cushion with palm fibre. Then they laid out dares and figs
for the guests to eat in addition to the main meal, and they filled the
waterskin with water that they had perfumed. It was generally agreed that
this wedding feast was one of the finest held in Medina at this time.

When the Prophet withdrew, as a sign for the guests to leave the bridal
pair alone together, he told 'All not to approach his wife until he himself
returned, which he did shortly after the last guest had departed. Umm
Ayman was still there, helping to set the house in order after the celebra-
tions. The Prophet had many special relationships in his life which were
not shared by any except himself and the person in question. One of these
was with Umm Ayman. When he asked permission to enter, it was she who
now came to the entrance. "Where is my brother?" he said. "My father
and my mother be thy ransom, O Messenger of God," she said, "who is thy
brother?" "Abu Talib's son 'AH," he said. "How can he be thy brother,"
she said, "when thou hast even now married thy daughter to him?" "He
is what I said," replied the Prophet, and asked her to bring him some water,
which she did. Having taken a mouthful and rinsed his mouth, he spat it
back into the vessel. Then, when *AlT came, he bade him sit in front of him;
and taking some of the water in his hand he sprinkled it over his shoulders
and breast and arms. Then he called Fatimah to him and she came, tripping
over her tobe in the awe and reverence she had for her father. He did the
same to her as to *Ali, and invoked blessings upon them both and upon
their offspring.^

In the year which followed the return from Badr the family of 'Umar
suffered two losses. The first of these was the death of his son-in-law
Khunays, the husband of his daughter Hafsah. He had been one of the
emigrants to Abyssinia, and it was on his return that the marriage had
taken place. Hafsah was only eighteen years old when she became a
widow. She was both beautiful and accomplished, having learned like her
father to read and write; and seeing that the death of Ruqayyah had left
*Uthman so disconsolate, *Umar offered him Hafsah in marriage. 'Uthman
said that he would think about it, but after some days he came to 'Umar
and said he thought it was better that he should not marry again for the
moment. 'Umar was very disappointed and also somewhat hurt by
*Uthman's refusal. But he was determined to find a good husband for his
daughter so he went to Abu Bakr, whom he counted as his best friend, and
proposed the match to him. Abu Bakr answered him evasively, which hurt
'Umar's feelings even more than 'Uthman's definite refusal, though at the
same time it was more understandable, for Abii Bakr already had one wife,
to whom he was deeply attached, whereas 'Uthman was now single.

1 i.s.vin,iz-i5.

Deaths and Marriages 165

Perhaps he could be made to change his mind, and the next time 'Umar was
with the Prophet he gave vent to his grievance. "Behold," said the Prophet,
"I will show thee a better son-in-law than 'Uthman, and I will show him a
better father-in-law than thee." "So be it!" said 'Umar with a smile of
happiness when, after a moment's reflection, he divined that the better
man referred to in both cases was none other than the Prophet, who would
himself take Hafsah to wife and who would become, for the second time,
the father-in-law of 'Uthman by giving him in marriage Ruqayyah*s sister
Umm Kulthum. It was after this that Abu Bakr explained the reason for his
silence to *Umar, namely that the Prophet had confided to him, as a secret
not yet to be divulged, his intention to ask for the hand of Hafsah.

The marriage of Umm Kulthum and 'Uthman took place first; and when
the legally necessary four months had elapsed since the death of Khunays,
and when an apartment had been added to those of Sawdah and 'A*ishah
adjoining the Mosque, the Prophet's own marriage was celebrated, a little
less than a year after the Battle of Badr. The arrival of Hafsah did not mar
the harmony of the household. 'A'ishah was pleased to have a companion
nearer to her own age, and a lasting friendship was soon developed
between the two younger wives, while Sawdah, who had been something
of a mother to *A'ishah, now extended a share of her maternal benevolence
to the newcomer, who was nearly twenty years younger than herself.

It was about the time of this marriage that *Umar's brother-in-law died,
Hafsah's maternal uncle, 'Uthman ibn Maz*un. Both he and his wife
Khawlah had always been very close to the Prophet, and 'Uthman was the
most ascetic of his Companions. He had been an ascetic before the
Revelation of Islam, and since his emigration to Medina he had become so
bent on suppressing earthly desires that he asked permission of the Prophet
to make himself a eunuch and to spend the rest of his life as a wandering
beggar. "Hast thou not in me a fair example?" said the Prophet. "And I go
into women, and I eat meat, and I fast, and I break my fast. He is not of my
people who maketh men eunuchs or maketh himself a eunuch." But the
Prophet had reason to think that 'Uthman had not fully understood him,
so on another occasion he put the same question: "Hast thou not in me an
example?" 'Uthman fervently assented, then asked what was amiss.
"Thou fastest every day," said the Prophet, "and keepest vigil every night
in prayer." "Yea, that indeed I do,'* said 'Uthman, for he had heard him
speak again and again of the merits of fasting and of night prayer. "Do not
so," said the Prophet, "for verily thine eyes have their rights over thee, and
thy body hath its rights, and thy family have their rights. So pray, and
sleep, and fast, and break fast."'

As an expression of the primordial religion, the Revelation continually
stressed the importance of giving thanks to God for all the most elementary
blessings of life. He hath given you hearing and sight and heart knowledge
that ye may he thankful?

And of His signs is His creation for you of consorts from amongst
yourselves, that ye may find rest in them, and His ordaining of love
between you and mercy. Verily therein are signs for people who reflect.^

' I.S.ni/1,289. 2 XVI, 68. ^ XXX, 21.

i66 Muhammad

Say: Have ye thought, if God made night everlasting upon you till the
Day of the Resurrection, who is a god beside God to bring you lights
Will ye not then hear? Say: Have ye thought, if God made day
everlasting upon you till the Day of the Resurrection, who is a god
beside God to bring you a night wherein to restf Will ye not then see?
And of His mercy hath he made for you night and day, that therein ye
may rest and that ye may go seek His favours, and that ye may be
thankfuU

For primordial man the natural enjoyments, consecrated by thankful-
ness to God, are modes of worship; and with reference to himself the
Prophet spoke of the pleasures of the senses and of prayer in the same
context: "It hath been given me to love perfume and women, and coolness
hath been brought to mine eyes in the prayer."^

Immediately after the death of 'Uthman, before his funeral, the Prophet
went with *A*ishah to visit Khawlah, and *A*ishah said afterwards: "The
Prophet kissed *Uthman when he was dead, and I saw his tears flowing
over 'Uthman's cheek/* At his funeral the Prophet heard an old woman
address the dead man with the words "Be glad, O father of Sa'ib, for
Paradise is thine/* The Prophet turned to her somewhat sharply and said:
"What giveth thee to know that?** "O Messenger of God," she protested,
"it is Abu s-Sa'ib!** "By God,*' he said, "we know naught but good of
him.** Then, to make it clear that his first remark had been in no sense
directed against 'Uthman but merely against her for saying more than she
had right to say he turned to her again and added: "It would have been
enough for thee to say: "He loved God and His messenger.**^

*Umar confessed to having been somewhat shaken in his high regard for
his brother-in-law by the fact that he had not been blessed with a martyr's
death. He said: "When *Uthman ibn Maz*un died without being slain he
fell immeasurably from my esteem and I said: 'Behold this man who was
severest of us all in abstaining from the things of this world, and now he
hath died and was not slain.* " And so he remained in *Umar's opinion until
the Prophet and Abu Bakr had both died natural deaths, and he up-
braided himself for having lacked a true sense of values, and said to him-
self: "Out upon thee, the best of us die!** - he meant "die naturally** -
and 'Uthman returned in his estimation to the place he had formally held.'*

* XXVllI,7i-3. 1 I.S. I/z» ii2,.Seeabove,p. 141, note.
^ 1.5.111/1,189-90. * ibid.

XLVIII

The People of
the Bench

PART of one of the long colonnades in the Mosque was now reserved
for those newcomers who had nowhere to live and no means of
sustenance. They were known as "the People of the Bench", Ahl
as-Suffah, on account of a stone bench which had been placed there for
their benefit; and since the Mosque was a prolongation ^the Prophet's
own dwelling, he and his household felt especially responsible for this
growing number of impoverished refugees who lived at their very door,
whose plight they witnessed daily and who came in ones and twos from all
directions, drawn by the message of Islam and the reports of him and his
community which had by now reached the tribes all over Arabia. The news
of Badr was not without its effect in this way. Consequently it was seldom
that those who lived in the dwellings adjoining the Mosque could eat their
fill at any meal. The Prophet used to say: "The food of one is enough for
two, the food of two enough for four, and the food of four enough for
eight."^

Just as he loved sweet scents and fragrance in general, so also he was
exceedingly sensitive to the slightest unpleasantness of odour, especially in
the breath, in himself and in others. 'A'ishah said that the first thing he
would do on entering the house was to take up his tooth-stick which was
made of green palm wood. When he was on a journey, *Abd Allah ibn
Mas*ud could well be trusted to have one always in readiness for him.
The Companions followed his example in the use of the tooth-stick, and
also in the rinsing of the mouth after every meal.

Hunger made no difference to his extreme sensitivity, which he did not
always expect others to share. There were certain kinds of food which the
law allowed and which he encouraged his companions to eat but would
not eat himself, such as the large lizards which were not to be found in
Mecca but which were common in Yathrib and elsewhere. Sometimes he
would refuse a dish more out of consideration for others than himself.
Once a stew was brought to him as a gift from one of the Helpers but just as
he was about to take some of it he noticed that it had a strong smell of
garlic and withdrew his hand. Those who were with him immediately did

' M. XXXVI, 176.

1 68 Muhammad

the same. "What is amiss?" he said to them. "Thou withdrewest thy
hand," they said, "so we have withdrawn ours." "Eat in the name of
God," he said, "I hold intimate converse with one whom ye converse not
with." ' They knew he was referring to the Angei. On that occasion the dish
had been prepared and must not be wasted. He none the less discouraged
them in general from eating food that was overflavoured with garlic or
onions, especially before going to the Mosque.^

Fatimah before her marriage had been as it were hostess to the People of
the Bench. But despite the sacrifices that were part of the daily life of the
Prophet's household, her life after her marriage seemed even more rigor-
ous on account of a lack which she had not yet experienced. There had
never been, for her, any shortage of helping hands. In addition to her sister,
Umm Kulthiim, Umm Ayman had been there, always ready to do what she
could. Umm Sulaym had given her ten-year-old son Anas as servant to the
Prophet, and Anas was diligent and thoughtful far beyond his years, while
his mother and Abu Talhah, her second husband, were always in the
background, ready to help. Ibn Mas*ud had attached himself to the
Prophet so closely as to be almost one of the household; and recently, after
his return to Mecca, 'Abbas had sent his slave Abu Rafi* to the Prophet as a
gift. The Prophet had set him free, but freedom had not diminished his
readiness to serve. There was also Khawlah, the widow of 'Uthman ibn
Maz*un, who had long considered herself as their servant. But now
Fatimah had no one in the house to help her. To relieve their extreme
poverty, *Ali earned some money as a drawer and carrier of water, and she
as a grinder of corn. "I have ground until my hands are blistered," she said
to *Ali one day. "I have drawn water until I have pains in my chest," said
*Ali, "and God hath given thy father some captives, so go thou and ask him
to give thee a servant." Not very readily she went to the Prophet, who said:
"What hath brought thee here, little daughter?" "1 came to give thee
greetings of peace," she said, for in her awe of him she could not bring
herself to ask what she had intended. "What didst thou do?" said 'All,
when she returned empty-handed. "1 was ashamed to ask him," she said,
so the two of them went together, but the Prophet felt that they were less in
need than others. "I will not give to you," he said, "and let the People of the
Bench be tormented with hunger. I have not enough for their keep; but I
will spend on them what may come from the selling of the captives."

They returned home in some disappointment but that night, after they
had gone to bed, they heard the voice of the Prophet asking permission to
enter. Giving him words of welcome they both rose to their feet, but he told
them: "Stay where ye are," and sat down beside them. "Shall I not tell you
of something better than that which ye asked of me?" he said, and when
they said yes he said: "Words which Gabriel taught me, that ye should say
Glory be to God ten times after every prayer, and ten times Fraise be to
God, and ten times God is most great. And that when ye go to bed ye
should say them thirty-three times each." 'All used to say in after years: "I
have never once failed to say them since the Messenger of God taught them
to us."^

I.S.I/2,iio. ' B.XCVI,24. 3 i.s.viii,i6,

The People of the Bench 169

Their house was not very far from the Mosque, but the Prophet would
have liked his daughter to be still nearer to him, and some months after the
marriage Harithah of Khazraj, a distant kinsman of the Prophet, came to
him and said: "O Messenger of God, 1 have heard that thou wouldst fain
bring Fatimah nearer to thee, and this my house is the nearest of all the
dwellings of the sons of Najjar, and it is thine. I and my goods are all for
God and for His Messenger, and I hold dearer what thou takest from me
than what thou leavest with me." The Prophet blessed him and accepted
his gift, and brought his daughter and son-in-law to Hve as his neighbours.

He greatly rejoiced in the generosity of Harithah, and in the many other
acts of generosity in Medina, both towards himself and towards others.
One of these, however, which took place at this time, was fraught with
some disappointment. The Prophet had a high opinion of Abu Lubabah of
Aws, and on the way to Badr he had sent him back from Rawha' to take
charge of Medina in his absence. Later that year an orphan under the
guardianship of Abu Lubabah came to the Prophet and claimed the
ownership of a certain lavishly fruiting palm-tree, which he said that his
guardian had wrongly appropriated. They sent for Abu Lubabah who said
that the palm belonged to him, as in fact it did. The Prophet heard the case
and gave judgement in favour of the guardian and against the orphan, who
was sadly grieved for the loss of the tree that he had always considered to
be his. Seeing this, the Prophet asked for the palm as a gift to himself,
intending to present it to the orphan, but Abu Lubabah refused. "O Abu
Lubabah," he said, "give it then thou the orphan, and its like shall be thine
in Paradise." But Abu Lubabah's sense of legal justice had been too much
roused by the whole affair for him to agree, and again he refused,
whereupon another of the Helpers, Thabit ibn ad-Dahdahah, said to the
Prophet: "O Messenger of God, if I should buy this palm and give it to this
orphan, would mine be its like in Paradise?" "It would indeed," came the
answer, so he went to Abu Lubabah and offered him an orchard of palms
for the single tree. The offer was accepted, and Ibn ad-Dahdahah gave the
palm to the orphan.^ The Prophet was exceedingly glad for his sake, but
saddened on account of Abu Lubabah.

W. 505.

XLIX

Desultory Warfare

4 N important secondary result of Badr and of the expeditions which
l\ preceded it was that Juhaynah and the other neighbouring Red Sea
X Jl tribes were now firmly allied with Medina. This meant that the
coastal road to Syria was virtually barred to the Meccan caravans; and it
raised the question: Would it not be possible to reduce the power of
Quraysh still further by barring them from all access to the north, on the
•east as well as on the west? This latent danger had by no means escaped the
notice of Quraysh themselves, and they had already taken some steps to
strengthen their alliances with Sulaym and Ghatafan through whose
territory the caravans had to pass if they took the north-easterly route to
the head of the Persian Gulf and thence to Iraq. These tribes lived in the
great plain of Najd to the east of Mecca and Medina. Caravans from
Mecca would make their seventh halt in the middle of the fertile tract
which was occupied by Sulaym; and this tribe in particular was now^ urged
by Quraysh to let slip no opportunity of harrying the borders of Yathrib
wherever they seemed to be most vulnerable.

During the next months the Prophet had warning of three projected
raids on the eastern fringes of the oasis, two by Sulaym and one by
Ghatafan. In every case he forestalled them by marching out at once into
their territory, and in every case they had news of his approach and
vanished before he reached their point of gathering. But one of these
expeditions was none the less remarkably successful. It was against the
Ghatafan! tribes of Tha'labah and Muharib, and this time the Prophet
decided to follow the elusive Bedouin into their half hidden fastnesses in
the hills to the north of Najd, with the help of a man of Tha'labah who
entered Islam and offered his services as a guide. From the plain they
ascended into the Muharib territory, and a sudden fall of rain drenched
some of the men, including the Prophet, before they could take shelter. The
Prophet withdrew a little from the others, removed his two wet garments
and hung them on a tree to dry, while he himself lay down under the tree
and was soon overcome by sleep. But all their movements and his in
particular had been watched by many unseen eyes; and he woke to find a
man standing over him with a drawn sword. It was none other than
Du'thur, the chief of Muharib, who had himself been largely responsible
for planning the projected raid of which the Prophet had had warning. "O
Muhammad," he said, "who will protect thee from me this day.>" "God,"
said the Prophet, whereupon Gabriel, clothed all in white, appeared

Desultory Warfare 171

between them and, placing his hand on the man's chest, he thrust him
backwards. The sword fell from his grasp, and the Prophet seized it.
Gabriel vanished from Du'thur's sight and he realised that he had seen an
Angel. "Who will protect thee from me?*' said the Prophet. "Nobody,"
said Du'thur. "I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad
is the messenger of God." The Prophet handed him back his sword, which
touched the man deeply. They went together to the camp, and Du'thur was
instructed in the religion. Then he returned to his people, and began to
summon them to Islam.

By the time that the army had returned from Najd, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
had left Mecca, and had returned to his fortress among the Bani Nadir, not
far from the outskirts of Medina. In addition to his poems urging Quraysh
to take revenge for Badr, he wrote others satirising the Prophet and his
Companions; and among the Arabs a gifted poet was like a multitude of
men, for his verses were repeated from mouth to mouth. If good, he was a
power for good; if evil, a power for evil, to be suppressed at all costs. The
Prophet prayed: "O Lord, deliver me from the son of al-Ashraf howsoever
Thou wilt, for the evil he declareth and the poems he declaimeth." Then he
said to those who were present: "Who is for me against the son of
al-Ashraf, for he hath done me great injury?" The first to volunteer was a
man of Aws, Muhammad ibn Maslamah, of the clan of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh.
The Prophet told him to consult Sa'd, and four more volunteers were
found. But they reaUsed that nothing could be achieved without deception
and lies, and they knew that lying was abhorrent to the Prophet; so they
went to him and told him what was in their minds. He said that they were
free to say whatever would serve their purpose, for deception was legiti-
mate in warfare, being a part of its strategy, and Ka'b had declared war on
them.

Ka'b was lured out of his fortress under false pretences, and then killed.
In indignation and in panic the Jews of Nadir went to the Prophet and
complained that one of their chief men had been treacherously done to
death, without any cause. The Prophet knew well that most of them were
as hostile to Islam as Ka'b had been, and with great disappointment he had
come to accept this. But it was vital to show them that if hostile thoughts
were tolerable, hostile action was not. "If he had remained as others of like
opinion remain," he said, "he would not have been killed by guile. But he
did us injury and wrote poetry against us; and none of you shall do this but
he shall be put to the sword. He then invited them to make ai special
treaty with him in addition to the covenant, and this they did.

W. 19Z.

Preparations for
Battle

THE Meccans felt keenly the loss of their Red Sea caravan route. One
of the disadvantages of the only alternative was that in the plain of
Najd the wells were relatively far apart. But now that the summer
months were drawing to a close the journey could easily be managed by
adding to the number of water-carrying camels; and they decided to send a
rich caravan to Iraq consisting mainly of bars of silver and silver vessels
worth about a hundred thousand dirhems. It was to be under the leader-
ship of Safwan. Some of the Jews of Medina had secret information
about the caravan and one of the Helpers happened to hear them discuss-
ing it. The Prophet knew that Zayd had gifts of leadership, and he now
sent him at the head of a hundred horse to waylay the caravan near
Qaradah, which was one of the chief watering places along the route. The
relatively small and therefore more manageable force made it possible for
Zayd to realise all the essentials of an effective ambush. Their sudden
ferocious and unexpected onslaught put to flight Safwan and his fellows,
while Zayd and his men returned to Medina in triumph, having become
themselves the escort of all the Meccan transport camels with their rich
loads of silver and other merchandise, and a few captives.

In Mecca the disaster of Qaradah intensified and quickened the prepara-
tions which had been in progress ever since Badr for an irresistible attack
on Medina. The sacred month of Rajab passed and with it midwinter and
the New Year of ad 6z$. It was in the following month that Hafsah's
marriage took place. Then came Rimadan, and in this month of fasting, to
the great joy of all the believers, Fatimah gave birth to a son. The Prophet
spoke the words of the call to prayer into the ear of the new-born babe and
named him al-IJasan, which means "the beautiful". The moon reached its
full, after which, a day or two later, came the anniversary of Badr; and in
the last days of the month a sealed letter was brought to the Prophet by a
horseman who had ridden from Mecca to Medina in three days. It was
from his uncle *Abbas, warning him that an army of three thousand men
was on the point of marching out against Medina. Seven hundred of the
men were mailed, and there was a troop of horse two hundred strong. The
camels were as many as the men, not counting the transport camels and
those which carried howdahs for the women.

Preparations for Battle 173

By the time the letter arrived Quraysh had already set out. Abu Sufyan,
the commander-in-chief, took with him Hind and also a second wife.
Safwan likewise brought two wives, other chiefs one only. Jubayr the son
of Mut'im remained in Mecca; but he sent out with the army an Abyssin-
ian slave of his named Wahshi who was, like many of his countrymen, an
expert at throwing the javelin. Wahshi had seldom been known to miss his
mark; and Jubayr said to him: "If thou slayest Hamzah, Muhammad's
uncle, in revenge for mine, thou art a free man." Hind came to know of
this, and during their halts, whenever she passed Wahshi in the camp or
saw him passing by, she would say to him: "Go to it, thou father of
darkness, slake and then gloat!" She had already made it clear to him that
she also, as well as his master, had a thirst to be slaked and a reward for the
slaker.

The Emigrants and Helpers still had a week before the enemy could be
upon them; but within that time room had to be made inside the walls of
Medina for all those who lived in the outlying parts of the oasis, together
with their animals. This was done and not one horse, camel, cow, sheep or
goat was left outside the walls. It remained to be seen what the Meccan
plan of action was. News came that they were taking the western route
near the coast. In due course they turned inland, and made a brief halt
about five miles west of Medina. Then they marched north-east for a few
miles and camped on a strip of cultivated land in the plain below Mount
Uhud, which overlooks Medina from the north.

The Prophet sent out scouts, who returned the next morning with the
information that the numbers of the enemy were indeed as the letter had
stated. Quraysh had with them a hundred men of Thaqif and also
contingents from Kinanah and other allies. The three thousand and more
camels and the two hundred horses were eating all the pasture and all the
as yet unharvested crops to the north of the city, and soon not a blade of
greenery would be left. The army showed no signs of being ready for any
immediate action. None the less, the city was closely guarded that night,
and the two Sa'ds of Aws and Khazraj, that is Ibn Mu'adh and Ibn
XTbadah, insisted on keeping watch outside the Prophet's door, and with
them was Usayd and a strong bodyguard.

The Prophet himself was as yet unarmed. But he dreamed that he was
wearing an impregnable coat of mail and that he was mounted on the back
of a ram. His sword was in his hand and he noticed a dent in it; and he saw
some kine which he knew to be his, and they were sacrificed before his eyes.

The next morning he told his Companions what he had seen, and he
interpreted it, saying: "The impregnable coat of mail is Medina, and the
dent in my sword is a blow that will be struck against myself; the sacrificed
kine are some of my Companions who will be slain; and, as to the ram
which I rode upon, that is the leader of their squadron whom we shall slay
if God will".'

His first thought was not to go out from the city, but to stand a siege
within its walls. He none the less wished to have his opinion confirmed by
others, for it was by no means a conviction, so he held a consultation as to

W. 2.09.

174 Muhammad

whether they should march out or not. Ibn Ubayy was the first to speak:
"Our city," he said, "is a virgin that hath never been violated against us.
Never without severe losses have we gone out from her to attack an enemy;
and none have entered her against us but it is they who have suffered the
losses. Therefore let them be, O Messenger of God. Wretched will be their
plight, so long as they stay; and when they return they will return dejected
and frustrated in purpose, with no good gained."

A large number of the older Companions, of both the Emigrants and
Helpers, inclined to the opinion of Ibn Ubayy. So the Prophet said: "Stay in
Medina, and put the women and children in the fortresses." Only when he
had spoken thus did it become apparent that most of the younger men were
burning with eagerness to march out against the enemy. "O Messenger of
God," said one of them, "lead us forth against the enemy. Let them not
think we fear them or that we are too weak for them." These words were
met with a murmur of approval from different parts of the assembly, and
others said much the same, with the added argument that their inactivity
and their failure to take reprisal for their devastated crops would only
serve to embolden Quraysh against them in the future, not to speak of the
tribes of Najd. Hamzah and Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah and others of the more
experienced now began to incline towards this view. "At Badr," said one
of them, "thou hadst but three hundred men, and God gave thee mastery
over them. And now we are many and have been hoping for this occasion
and praying God for it, and He hath sent it to our very door."^ Then one of
the oldest men present rose to speak, a man of Aws named Khaythamah.
He repeated many of the arguments already given against remaining on the
defensive. Then he spoke on a more personal note. His son Sa'd was one of
the few Muslims who had been slain at Badr. "Last night in my sleep," he
said, "I saw my son. Most beautiful was his appearance, and I witnessed
how it was given to him to fulfil his every wish amid the fruits and the
rivers of the Garden. And he said: 'Come unto us and be our companion in
Paradise. All that my Lord promised me have I found to be true.' And I am
old and I long to meet my Lord, so pray O messenger of God, that He will
grant me martyrdom and the company of Sa'd in Paradise." ^The Prophet
made a prayer for Khaythamah, no doubt a silent one, for the words are
not recorded. Then another of the Helpers rose to speak, this time a man of
Khazraj, Malik ibn Sinan. "O Messenger of God," he said, "we have
before us one of two good things: either God will grant us the mastery over
them, and that is what we would have; or else God will grant us
martyrdom. I care not which it may be, for verily there is good in both."^

It was now clear, not only from the words that were spoken but from the
general approval with which they were received, that the majority were
against remaining behind the city walls, and the Prophet decided to attack.
At noon they assembled for the Friday prayer, and the theme of his sermon
was the Holy War and all that it demands of earnestness and effort; and he
said that victory would be theirs if they remained steadfast. Then he bade
them make ready to meet the enemy.

After the prayer two men waited behind to speak to the Prophet, each

' W. 2IO-II. ^ W. 2.12.-13, ^ ibid.

Preparations for Battle 175

having an urgent decision to make. One of them was Hanzalah, the son of
the self-styled Abrahamist Abii *Amir, who was even now, unknown to his
son, in the enemy camp below Uhud. It was Hanzalah's wedding day - a
day which had been chosen some weeks in advance. He was betrothed to
his cousin Jamilah, the daughter of Ibn Ubayy, and he was loth to postpone
the marriage, yet determined to fight. The Prophet told him to celebrate his
marriage and spend the night in Medina. There could be no fighting before
sunrise, and Hanzalah would have ample time to join him on the battle-
field early the next morning. He could find out by inquiry which way the
army had passed.

The other man was 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr of the Bani Salimah, one of the
clans of Khazraj. It was he who nearly three years previously had gone out
on the Pilgrimage as a pagan, and had entered Islam in the valley of Mina,
where he had forthwith pledged allegiance to the Prophet at the Second
*Aqabah. And now, two or three nights previously, 'Abd Allah had had a
dream not unlike that which Khaythamah had recounted in the assembly.
A man had come to him in his sleep and he recognised him as a Helper
named Mubashshir, who said to him: "A few days, and thou shalt come
unto us." "And where art thou?" said 'Abd Allah, "In Paradise," said
Mubashshir. "We do there all that it pleaseth us to do," "Wast thou not
slain at Badr?" said 'Abd Allah. "Even so," said Mubashshir, "but then
was I brought to life." "Father of Jabir," said the Prophet to 'Abd Allah
when he told him the dream, "that is martyrdom."' 'Abd Allah knew this
in his heart, but he wished none the less to have it confirmed by the
Prophet. Then he went home to make ready for war and to bid farewell to
his children. His wife had died recently, leaving him with one son, Jabir,
now just grown to manhood, and seven daughters much younger than
their brother. Jabir had already returned from the Mosque, and was busy
about his weapons and his armour. Not having been present at Badr, he
was all the more eager to go out with the Prophet on this occasion. But his
father had other thoughts. "My son," he said, "it is not meet that we
should leave them" - he meant his daughters - "without a man. They are
young and helpless, and I fear for them. But I shall go out with the
Messenger of God, perchance to be martyred if God grant it me, so I leave
them to thy care."

They all assembled again for the afternoon prayer, and by that time the
men from Upper Medina had mustered and were present in the Mosque.
After the prayer the Prophet took Abu Bakr and 'Umar with him into his
house and they helped him to dress for battle. The men lined up outside;
and Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and his clansmen reproved them saying: "Ye have
compelled the Messenger of God to go out against his will, albeit the
command cometh down to him from Heaven. Put back the decision into
his hands and let him decide afresh." When the Prophet came out, he had
wound his turban about his helmet and donned his breastplate, under
which he wore a coat of mail belted with a leather sword-belt. He had even
girt on his sword and slung his shield across his back. Many of the men by
that time had regretted the course they had taken, and as soon as he

176 Muhammad

appeared they said: "O Messenger of God, it is not for us to oppose thee in
aught, so do what seemeth best to thee." But he answered them saying: "It
is not for a Prophet, when he hath put on his armour, to take it off until
God hath judged between him and his enemies. So look to what I bade you
do, and do it, and go forward in the Name of God. The victory is yours, if
ye be steadfast."^ Then he called for three lances and fastened upon them
three banners. The banner of Aws he gave to Usayd, that of Khazraj to
Hubab, who had advised him about the wells at Badr, and that of the
Emigrants to Mus'ab. Again he appointed the blind 'Abd Allah ibn Umm
Maktum to lead the prayers in his absence. Then he mounted his horse
Sakb,^ and asked for his bow, which he hung over his shoulder, taking in
his hand a spear. No other man was mounted. The two Sa'ds marched irt
front of him, and there were men on either side. In all they were about a
thousand strong.

1 W.214.

2 Running Water, so called because he could amble.

The March to Uhud

THE sun was already setting when they reached Shaykhayn, half-
way between Medina and Ohud. Bilal made the call to prayer and
they prayed, after which the Prophet reviewed his troops. It was
then that he noticed the presence of eight boys who, despite their age, were
hoping to take part in the battle. Amongst them were Zayd's son Usamah
and 'Umar's son 'Abd Allah, both only thirteen years old. The Prophet
ordered them and their six friends to return home immediately. They
protested, and one of the Helpers assured the Prophet that the fifteen-year-
old Rafi*, of the Awsite clan of Harithah, was already a better archer than
some of his elders. So Rafi* was allowed to stay, whereupon Samurah, an
orphan from one of the Najd tribes, whose mother had married a Helper of
Rafi*'s clan, claimed that he could throw Rafi' in wrestling. The Prophet
told the two boys to show him what they could do, so they set about each
other then and there; and Samurah proved his claim to be true, so he also
was allowed to stay, while the others were sent back to their families.

The Meccans were hoping that the Muslims would come out against
them and so enable them to use their greater strength, and in particular
their cavalry, to the best possible advantage. The Prophet was aware of this
and, having none the less decided to leave the city, he was determined to
compensate for the disparity of numbers by taking up a position which
would give his army an advantage and which would at the same time be
unexpected and therefore disconcerting to the enemy. But for his purpose
he would need a guide, so he made some inquiries, and since they would
have to pass through the territory of the Bani Harithah he accepted the
offered services of a member of that clan who knew the lie of the land to
perfection.

In Medina that night Hanzalah and Jamilah had consummated their
marriage; and in her sleep, during the small hours, JamTlah had a dream in
which she saw her husband standing at the outside of Heaven; and a door
opened for him and he entered through it, whereupon it closed behind him.
When she woke, she said to herself: "This is martyrdom." They performed
their ablutions and prayed the dawn prayer together, after which he bade
her farewell. But she clung to him, and would not let him go, and again he
lay with her. Then he tore himself from her embrace, and not even staying
to repeat his ablution, he put on his coat of mail, seized his weapons, and
hastened from the house.'

W.273.

1/8 Muhammad

The Prophet had given instructions that the army should be ready to
move off from Shaykhayn shortly before dawn. But Ibn Ubayy had been in
consultation with some of his nearest followers during the night, and when
it was time to raise camp he turned back to Medina with three hundred of
the hypocrites and doubters, to the great shame of his son 'Abd Allah, who
remained with the army. Ibn Ubayy did not even speak to the Prophet, and
when questioned by some of the Helpers he said: "He hath disobeyed me,
and obeyed the striplings and men of no judgement. I see not why we
should lose our lives in this ill chosen spot." Another Abd Allah, the father
of Jabir, went after them and called out: "I adjure you by God not to desert
your people and your Prophet in the very presence of the enemy." But they
only answered: "If we knew that ye would be fighting, we would not leave
you. But we do not think there will be a battle." "Enemies of God", he
retorted, "God will avail His Prophet beyond any need of you."

Reduced now to seven hundred, the army advanced for a short distance
towards the enemy and then, still under cover of the darkness, they moved
to their right and made their way across a volcanic tract until they came to
the south-easterly end of the gorge of Uhud. Turning again they advanced
north-west up the gorge until in the half-light of dawn they saw the
Meccan camp ahead of them, a little to their left and a little below them.
They marched on until they were directly between the enemy and Uhud.
Having now reached his objective, which was to have the slope of the
ground in his favour, the Prophet halted them and dismounted. Bilal made
the call to the morning prayer, and they moved into lines with their backs
to the mountain. This was also their formation for battle, since the enemy
were now between them and Mecca. Having led the prayer, the Prophet
turned and exhorted them, saying: "Verily this day ye are at a station that
is rich in reward and rich in treasure, for him who is mindful of what he is
about and who devoteth his soul thereunto in patience and certainty and
earnestness and effort."' When he had finished, Hanzalah went forward to
greet him, for he had just arrived from Medina.

The Prophet now chose out his best archers: of these he attached to
himself Zayd, Sa'd his cousin of Zuhrah, and Sa'ib the son of 'Uthman ibn
Maz'un amongst others; but he told fifty of them to take up their position
on a rise a little to the left of his main force. He put over them *Abd Allah
ibn Jubayr, a man of Aws, and gave them their orders, saying: "Keep their
cavalry from us with your arrows. Let them not come upon us from our
rear. Be the tide of battle for us or against us, stay at this post! If ye see us
plundering the enemy, seek not to have a share in it; and if ye see us being
slain, come not to our aid."^

Having put on another coat of mail he took up a sword and brandished
it, saying: "Who will take this sword, together with its right?" Immediate-
ly *Umar went to take it, but the Prophet turned away from him, saying
again: "Who will take this sword, together with its right?" Zubayr said he
would take it, but again the Prophet turned away, repeating his question a
third time. "What is its right," O Messenger of God?" said Abu Dujanah, a
man of Khazraj. 'Its right," said the Prophet, "is that thou shouldst strike

' W.X2I. ^ I.I. 560.

The March to JJhud 179

the foe with it until its blade be bent." "I will take it, together with its
right," he said, and the Prophet gave it to him. He was a valiant man, who
gloried in battle. His red turban was well known, and among the Khazraj
it was called the turban of death. When he put it on, as now he did, wind-
ing it round his helmet, they knew that he meant to inflict great slaughter
on the enemy; and none could doubt that this was his firm intention as
sword in hand he strutted up and down between the Hnes. Seeing him, the
Prophet said: "That is a gait which God detesteth, save at such a time and
place as this."^

^ U.561.

LII

The Battle of Uhud

THE sun was now up and Quraysh were already in line, with a
hundred horse on either wing, commanded on the right by Khalid,
son of WalTd, and on the left by *Ikrimah, son of Abu Jahl. From the
centre Abu Sufyan gave the order to advance. In front of him Talhah of
'Abd ad-Dar carried the banner of Quraysh, and two of Talhah's brothers
and four of his sons were in close attendance, each ready to take his turn if
need be. Talhah and his brothers were determined to win glory for their
clan that day. At Badr their two standard-bearers had ingloriously let
themselves be taken prisoner, and Abu Sufyan had not failed to remind
them of this on the way to Uhud. Mus'ab recognised his fellow clansmen
from where he stood in front of the Prophet with the banner of the
Emigrants.

As soon as the two hosts were within earshot of each other, Abu Sufyan
halted his advance and stepped a little ahead of the standard. "Men of Aws
and Khazraj," he said, "quit ye now the field, and leave to me my cousin.
Then we will be gone from you, for we have no call to fight you." But the
Helpers answered him with a roll of thunderous abuse. Then another man
stepped forward from the Meccan ranks, and Hanzalah was grieved to
recognise his father, who now proclaimed his presence: "Men of Aws, I am
Abu *Amir !" He could not believe that his influence, once so considerable,
had gone to nothing, and he had promised Quraysh that as soon as he
made himself known many of the men of his clan would rally to his side.
Instead, he received not only curses but a volley of stones which drove him
back in dismay.

Again the order was given for the Meccans to advance, and not far from
the front lines the women, led by Hind, also moved forward, beating their
timbrels and their drums and chanting:

On, ye sons of 'Abd ad-Dar;
Onwards, ye that guard the rear;
Smite, with every sharp sword smite.

Then when the women felt they had reached their limit of nearness to the
enemy they marked time to the beat of their drums, letting the men
advance beyond them, and Hind started up a song which had been sung by
another Hind in one of the wars of old:

The Battle of Uhud i8i

Advance and we embrace you.

And soft carpets spread.
But turn your backs, we leave you,

Leave you and not love you.

When the two armies were almost joined the Prophet's archers shot a
volley of arrows into Khalid's cavalry, and the neighing of horses drowned
the women's voices and their drums. From the Meccan centre Talhah
strode forward and shouted for a man to meet him in single combat. 'All
went out to meet him, and finally felled him to the ground with a blow that
cut through his helmet and split his skull. The Prophet knew at once that
this was "the leader of the squadron" - the ram that had been subjected to
him in his dream - and in a loud voice he magnified God, Allahu akbar^
and his magnification was echoed throughout the host. But the ram had
signified not only one victim, for Talhah's brother now took his banner
and he was cut down by Hamzah. Then Sa'd of Zuhrah put an arrow
through the neck of Talhah 's second brother, and his four sons were killed
one after the other by 'All and Zubayr and 'Asim ibn Thabit of Aws. Two
of them were carried dying to. their mother Sulafah, who was now in the
rear; and when they told her who had dealt them their mortal wounds she
vowed that one day she would drink wine out of 'Asim's skull.

No woman had been allowed to set out with the Muslims on the
previous day. But Nusaybah, a woman of Khazraj, felt that her place was
none the less with the army. Her husband Ghaziyyah and two of her sons
were there, but that was not the reason. Other women had husbands and
sons in the army and were content to stay at home. But Nusaybah had been
one of the two women who had gone out with the seventy men of Medina
to the Second 'Aqabah, nor could she find it in her nature to stay behind on
this occasion. So she had risen early that morning, and having filled a skin
with water she set off for the battlefield where she would at least be able to
tend the wounded and give drink to the thirsty. She took with her none the
less a sword and also a bow and a quiver of arrows. Following by inquiry
the way that the army had taken, she reached without difficulty, not long
after the battle had begun, the place at the foot of the mountain where the
Prophet had now taken up his position on a piece of relatively high ground,
with Abu Bakr, 'Umar and others of his closest Companions. ITie mother
of Anas, Umm Sulaym, had had the same idea and arrived with her skin of
water not long after Nusaybah. The group behind the lines was also joined
by two men of Muzaynah, one of the Bedouin tribes to the west of the
oasis. They were both recent converts to Islam, and not knowing of the
Meccan attack they had gone to Medina that dawn to find the city more
than half empty. On hearing why, they immediately set out for Uhud, and
having greeted the Prophet they drew their swords ahd went forward into
the fray.

Abu Dujanah was being true to the promise of his red turban, Zubayr
admitted afterwards: "I was hurt within my soul when I asked the
Messenger of God for the sword and he kept it from me and gave it to Abu
Dujanah and I said to myself: I am the son of Safiyyah, his father's sister,
and I am of Quraysh; and I went to him and asked him for it before the

i8z Muhammad

other man, yet he gave it to him and set me aside. By God, I will go see what
Abu Dujanah is about! And so I followed him." He then told how Abu
Dujanah killed every man he encountered as easily as if he had been a
reaper and his sword a scythe, and how he himself was reconciled to the
Prophet's decision and told himself: "God and His Messenger know best."

Hind, a large woman of imposing appearance, was still in the midst of
the men, urging them on to fight, and she narrowly escaped being cut down
by Abu Dujanah, who thought she was a man. His sword was raised above
her head when she shrieked, and, realising that she was a woman, he
turned against the men at her side. She now joined the other wives and
mothers in the rear, where the slaves had been put to guard the camp; and,
as she retreated, Wahshi, the Abyssinian, was making his way forward.
Unlike the rest of those on the field, he was concerned with one man only,
and unlike them his blood was cold. Hamzah was unmistakable for his
unusually powerful stature, for his manner of fighting and for his ostrich
plume. WahshT saw him from a distance and while keeping to the edge of
the fray he was able to reach a point of relative safety that was none the less
close enough for a javelineer to strike. Hamzah was now face to face with
the last of the standard-bearers of 'Abd ad-Dar, and as he lifted his sword
to strike he momentarily laid open a chink in his armour. WahshT was
quick to see his chance, and poising his javelin he launched it with perfect
aim. Hamzah staggered a few paces forward, having already killed his
man, and fell to the ground in the throes of death. WahshT waited until his
body stopped moving, and then went and drew out his javelin and returned
with all speed to the camp. As he himself said: "I had done all I had come to
do, and I only killed him for the sake of my freedom,"

The death of Hamzah made little difference to the sense of defeat which
was beginning to spread through the Meccan army. Another Abyssinian, a
slave of the family of the seven dead standard-bearers, now took up the
standard himself, but he was soon killed and for a while it lay unheeded on
the ground; and although Hamzah's ostrich feather was no longer to be
seen, Abu Dujanah, Zubayr and others of the Emigrants and Helpers
fought like incarnations of the Muslim battle-cry that day, Amity Amit^
which means "Kill, Kill". It seemed that none could resist them: 'AlT*s
white plume, Abu Dujanah's red turban, the bright yellow turban of
Zubayr and the green turban of Hubab were like flags of victory which
gave strength to the ranks behind them. Abu Sufyan narrowly escaped the
sword of Hanzalah, who was fighting valiandy near the centre and who
was about to cut him down, when a man of Layth came in from the side
and thrust Hanzalah through with his spear, felling him to the ground and
killing him outright with a second thrust.

The battle had gradually moved down the slope away from the Prophet
as the Meccans were driven back towards their camp. He could no longer
discern in any detail what was happening, though he could see that so far
his men were winning the day. But now his attention was drawn upwards
from the battle and his eyes were raised as one who watches the flight of
birds. After a moment he said to those beside him: Your companion" ~ he
meant Hanzalah - "the Angels are washing him."^ And afterwards he

• LI. 568.

The Battle of Uhud 183

said to Jamilah, as if seeking an explanation: "I saw the Angels washing
Hanzalah between heaven and earth with water from the clouds in vessels
of silver."* Then she told him of her dream, and how through fear of being
late for the battle, he had not made the ablution he would normally have
made.

The Muslims continued to advance until at one point the enemy lines
were broken altogether. The way to their camp was thus laid open, and
there was a surge forward of would-be plunderers. Now the fifty chosen
archers were at some distance to the left of the Prophet. Between him and
them the ground sloped down to the plain and then rose up to the point of
vantage at which he had placed them. They could see the first lines, and the
sight of their fellows about to enrich themselves, as they thought, with
enemy spoils, was too much for most of them. In vain their commander,
*Abd Allah ibn Jubayr, reminded them of the Prophet's order not to leave
their post on any account. They replied that the Prophet had not meant
them to stay there for ever. The batde was now finished, they said, and the
disbelievers routed. About forty of them sped down the slope in the
direction of the camp, leaving *Abd Allah at the head of a staunch but
fatally depleted nucleus of bowmen.

So far the Meccan cavalry had been of no avail. In the centre the two
armies were so interwoven that a charge of horse would have endangered
their own men as well as their enemies; and they could not reach the rear of
the Muslim army without first exposing themselves to the shafts of the
archers over a long stretch of ground. But Khalid saw what now had
happened, and realising that his moment had come, he led his men at full
gallop for the post where the archers were stationed. 'Abd Allah and his
men vainly tried to head them off with their arrows; then they threw down
their bows and fought to the death with sword and spear. Not one of the
faithful ten was left alive; and wheeling round, Khalid led his men into the
rear of their enemy's main force. 'Ikrimah followed his example, and the
Meccan horsemen made much havocin the unguarded ranks of the believers.
'All and his companions now turned to face the new danger, and some of
the idolaters who had been put to flight rallied and came back into the fray.
The tide of battle had suddenly changed, and the Quraysh war-cry **0
*Uzzah! O Hubal!" was taken up again all over the field. Many of the
Muslims in the rear who had escaped being cut down by the horsemen now
lost heart and fled towards the mountain, where they knew they could find
refuge. The Prophet called to them to return, but their ears were closed to
his voice, nor were their minds open to any thought but flight. The
majority of the Muslims fought on, but the initial impetus was now lost,
and the weight of numbers told against them. They were driven back step
by step, and the whole batde moved towards Uhud in the direction of the
Prophet.

He and his Companions, including the two women, shot volley after
volley of arrows into the enemy, and their group was increased by others
from the main force whose chief thought, when the day turned against
them, had been the safety of the Prophet. Among the first to join them were
the two men of Muzaynah, Wahb and Harith, A small body of enemy

' W.274.

184 Muhammad

horse now approached from the left. "Who is for this detachment?" said
the Prophet. "I am, O Messenger of God," was the instant reply of Wahb,
and he shot at them with such speed and dexterity that his arrows came
upon them as from a group of archers and they withdrew. *'Who is for this
squadron?" said the Prophet as another body of horse made for them. "I
am, O Messenger of God," said Wahb, and again he fought as if he were
not one man but many, and again they withdrew. Then yet a third troop
emerged from the lines. "Who will stand up to these?" said the Prophet. "I
will," said Wahb. "Arise then," said the Prophet, "and rejoice, for
Paradise is thine." And Wahb rose joyfully saying, as he drew his sword:
"By God, I give no quarter and I seek no quarter." Then he plunged into
their midst and fought his way through them and out at the other side
while the Prophet and his Companions stopped their shooting to gaze at
his prowess and his valour. "O God, have Mercy upon him!" said the
Prophet, as Wahb returned into the midst of the troop, fighting on until
they hemmed him in on all sides and killed him. He was found afterwards
with twenty lance thrusts, any one of which would have sufficed, apart
from what the swords had done to him. No one who saw his fighting ever
forgot it. 'Umar would say in after years: "Of all deaths the one I would
most fain have died was the Muzaynite's death."* And Sa'd of Zuhrah
claimed ten years later that he still carried in his ears the sound of the
Prophet's voice giving Wahb the good tidings of Paradise.

The main body of the fray had come gradually nearer as the Muslims
were slowly driven backwards up the slope. Amid the battle-cries of both
sides the individual shouts of the fighters could also be heard - challenges
to single combat or the staking of claims in arrows shot or blows struck.
"Take that: and I am the son of so-and-so." Abu Dujanah styled himself as
the son of Kharashah, who was his grandfather. Not seldom the identity of
the claimant was left uncertain. One of the Ansar, that is the Helpers, was
heard to shout: "Take that: and I am the Ansari lad." The Prophet himself
said that day, on at least one occasion: "I am Ibn al-'Awatik,"^ which
means "I am the son of the 'Atikahs," referring to his many ancestresses' of
that name. But now there came a challenge of unmistakable identity as a
single horseman emerged from the lines and said: 'Who will come forth
against me?_I am the son of 'Atiq." It was ' Abd al-Ka'bah, the eldest son of
Abii Bakr, ' A'ishah's only full brother, the one member of their family who
had not entered Islam. Abu Bakr threw down his bow and drawing his
sword would have gone to the attack but the Prophet was too quick for
him. "Sheathe thy sword," he said, "and go back to thy place, and give us
the good of thy company."*

Another body of horse broke through the rear of the Muslims, and
advanced in front of 'Abd al-Ka'bah, who now withdrew. "Which of you
will sell himself for us?"^ said the Prophet, and five of the Helpers drew
their swords, threw themselves on the enemy, and fought till they were

' W.275. ^ W. 280.

^ I.S. I/i , 3 2-4^gives more than ten, including the mother of Hashim and the mother of
Lu'ayy. The name 'Atikah is similar in meaning to Tahirah, "the Pure".

' W.257. 5 1.1,572.

The Battle of Uhud 185

killed, except for one, who was mortally wounded. But help was at hand to
replace them, for 'All, Zubayr, Talhah and Abu Dujanah and others who
had been in the forefront of the battle had fought their way back through
the host. They now reached the Prophet's side, but not before a sharp stone
from the enemy had struck him in the mouth, gashing his lower lip and
breaking one of his teeth. The blood flowed from his face, but doing what
he could to staunch it, he reassured 'All and the others that he was not
seriously injured, and they returned to the fight, except for Talhah, who
was too weak from loss of blood and who now fainted. "Look to thy
cousin," said the Prophet to Abu Bakr, but Talhah alrnost immediately
recovered consciousness, while Sa'd of Zuhrah and Harith ibn Simmah of
Khazraj went out instead of him, and together with the new reinforce-
ments they made so great an onslaught against the enemy that for the
moment their lines receded away from the bodies of the five Helpers who
had even now sold their lives. The Prophet looked at them and invoked
blessings upon them, and the one who was not yet dead began with an
effort to work his way along the ground towards him. He sent two men to
carry him, and as a pillow for the dying man's head he put out his foot,
which he kept motionless until the man died with his cheek resting upon it.

"Know that Paradise is beneath the shadow of the swords,"^ the Prophet
said; and in after-years he would look back to this particular time and
place as being so wondrously blessed that on one occasion he exclaimed:
"Would I had been left abandoned with my Companions of the moun-
tain's foot!"^

The enemy gradually began to gain the ground they had lost. In the little
group round the Prophet the supply of arrows would soon be finished, and
in any case it seemed that the time for archery was running out. If the
enemy continued to advance every sword would soon have to be un-
sheathed for a final hand-to-hand conflict with an average of four pagans
against every believer. Then suddenly a single horseman came in from the
side and made straight for where the Prophet was standing. "Where is
Muhammad?" he shouted. "May 1 not survive if he survive!" It was Ibn
Qami'ah, a man of one of the outskirt clans of Quraysh, who had already
made much slaughter among the Muslims. With a quick glance at the
group his sharp eye recognised his intended victim and urging on his
horse, he brought down his sword in a blow which he was sure no helmet
could resist. But Talhah, who was standing next to the Prophet, threw
himself in the direction of the sword and was somehow able to deflect the
blow a little, at the expense of losing the use of the fingers of one of his
hands for the rest of his life. The blade narrowly missed the crown of the
Prophet's helmet and glanced off the side of it, grazing his temple, driving
two of the helmet rings into his cheek, and finally, with its force somewhat
spent, striking his doubly mailed shoulder. The shock against the side of
his head momentarily stunned him and he fell to the ground, whereupon
his assailant withdrew as quickly as he had come. But others closed in to
attack, and Shammas^ of Makhzum stationed himself in front of the
Prophet and fought like a man inspired - the Prophet described him as a

' B.LII,i2. 2 W.256. 3 Seep. 82.

1 86 Muhammad

living shield - until he was cut down, and another man took his place,
backed by Nusaybah, who had now drawn her sword.

A voice - perhaps that of Ibn Qami*ah himself - was heard to shout:
"Muhammad is slain!" The cry was taken up all over the field, interspersed
with glorifications of al-*Uzzah and Hubal. The cliffs of Uhud resounded
and the Muslims who had fled were overcome with self-reproach and
sorrow, while many of those who were still fighting in the plain lost heart
and withdrew from the strife as best they might. But there were many
exceptions, and one of these was Anas the son of Nadr after whom his
nephew, the Prophet's servant Anas, was named. It was his sister, the
daughter of Nadr, who had been told by the Prophet that her son, killed by
an arrow at Badr, was in Firdaws, the highest Paradise. Anas came upon
two of his fellows for whom life seemed to have lost its meaning, and who
could bring themselves neither to continue fighting nor to climb the ascent
to safety. "Why sit ye here?" he exclaimed. "The Messenger of God hath
been slain," they said. "Then what will ye do with life after him?" said
Anas. "Rise and die, even as he died."^ Aiid he set off for where the fight
was thickest. There he found Sa'd ibn Mu*adh, who told the Prophet
afterwards that Anas had called to him: "Paradise! I scent its fragrance
blowing from the other side of Uhud." "O Messenger of God," said Sa*d,
"I could not fight as he fought." Afterwards they found Anas lying dead
with more than eighty wounds, so disfigured as to be unrecognisable to
anyone save his sister, who knew him by his fingers.^

As to the believers who now sought refuge on the higher ground above
the plain, withdrawal was made easier for them because most of the enemy
felt that the battle was now over and they too slackened their efforts. The
dead had not yet been counted, but it was evident that they had amply
avenged those who had died at Badr; and now, by killing the man who had
been the sole cause of all the strife, they had surely put an end to the new
religion and virtually re-established the old order of things. Yd lal-'Uzzah
yd la-Hubal!

The sudden relaxing of effort on the part of Quraysh was nowhere more
apparent than amongst those who had half surrounded the little group of
some twenty men who were acting as a bodyguard to the Prophet. It had
become dear to the Meccans that these were men who would never be
taken prisoner and who in fighting to the death would certainly deal death
to others. So their better course, now that their main purpose had been
achieved, was to live and let live, and to celebrate their victory.

The Prophet had almost immediately recovered consciousness, and
when the enemy had withdrawn he rose to his feet and, motioning to his
Companions to follow him, he led them towards the entrance of a glen
which seemed to offer the easiest ascent to a point of safety from which
they could watch over the movement of the enemy. But he was now in great
pain from his cheek: the metal rings were deeply embedded in the flesh, so
they halted for a moment and Abu *Ubaydah caught one of them and then
the other between his teeth and drew them out. The wound began to bleed
again and Malik of Khazraj put his mouth to it and sucked out the blood

' W.280. ^ B.LVI,i2.

The Battle of U hud 187

and swallowed it. It was he who had said in Medina: "We have before us
one of two good things"; and except for Shammas, who appeared to be
dead, he was the most severely wounded of those present. The Prophet
said; "Whoso would look on a man whose blood is mingled with my
blood, let him look on Malik, the son of Sinan." Abu 'Ubaydah was
also included, for in his effort to remove the rings he had pulled out
two of his own teeth and his mouth was bleeding. The Prophet said to
them: "Whose blood hath touched my blood, him the fire cannot
reach."»

As the small party moved up the glen they were seen by some of those
who had already taken refuge on Uhud, and they came down to meet them.
Ka'b ibn Malik was ahead of the others, and he was surprised to see a man
whose stature and bearing were exaaly like those of the Prophet, albeit
that his gait was slower. Then, as he drew near, Ka*b saw the incomparable
and unmistakable brightness of the eyes through the eyeholes of the visor,
and he turned and shouted to those behind him: "O Muslims, be of good
cheer! This is the Messenger of God!" The Prophet motioned him to be
silent, and he did not shout the good news again, but it spread from mouth
to mouth, and men came hurrying to reassure themselves that it was true.
So great was the rejoicing that it was as if the defeat had suddenly been
changed into victory.

But Ka*b's joyful shout was heard by a solitary horseman of Quraysh
who had halted on the very site they had just vacated. It was Ubayy, the
brother of Umayyah, who had sworn that from the back of his horse 'Awd,
which he was now riding, he would kill the Prophet. Having learned that
his intended victim was dead, he had no doubt come to look for the body to
see if there was still life in it; and when he heard the shout of Ka'b he rode
up the glen until he was hard on the heels of the Muslims. They turned to
face him. "O Muhammad," he called out, "if thou escape, then may not I
escape!" Some of the Companions closed round the Prophet, and others
were about to attack Ubayy when the Prophet ordered them to hold off
their hands; and those who were round him said afterwards that he shook
himself clear of them as if they had been no more than flies on a camel's
back. Then he took a spear from Harith ibn as-Simmah and stepped in
front of them all. Not daring to move, they looked on in awe at his grim
and deadly earnestness. As one of them said: "When the Messenger of God
made a deliberate effort toward some end, there was no earnestness that
could compare with his."^ Ubayy approached with drawn sword, but
before he could strike a blow the Prophet had thrust him in the neck. He
bellowed like a bull, then swayed and almost fell from his horse but,
recovering his balance, he turned and galloped down the slope and did not
stop until he reached the Meccan camp where his nephew Safwan and
others of his clan were now assembled. "Muhammad hath slain me," he
said in a voice he could not control. They looked at his wound and made
light of it, but he was convinced that it was mortal, as indeed it soon proved
to be. "He told me he would kill me," he said, "and by God if he had spat
upon me he would have killed me." Was Muhammad not dead after all,

W.247. 2 W.251.

1 88 Muhammad

they began to wonder. But Ubayy was clearly beside himself, and in any
case it was easy to mistake one helmeted man for another.

When the Prophet and his Companions reached the top of the glen, 'Ali
went to fill his shield with water from a cavity in the rocks. He held it out to
the Prophet, but the odour of its stagnancy repelled him, and he could not
bring himself to drink of it despite his thirst, though he used some of it to
wash the blood from his face. Then, since they were still too easily
accessible from the plain, he gave the word to move onwards to higher
ground, and he tried to raise himself onto a ledge of rock from which
further ascent could be made. But he was too weak for the effort, so Talhah
crouched below the ledge with great violence to his wounds, and taking the
Prophet on his back he raised him to the necessary height. The Prophet said
of him that day: "He that would behold a martyr walking the face of the
earth, let him look on Talhah the son of *Ubayd AUah.*'^

By the time they had found a place which could serve as a temporary
camp the sun had reached its zenith and they prayed the noon prayer. The
Prophet, who led it, remained seated throughout, and everyone followed
his example. Then they lay down to rest and many of them slept a deep and
refreshing sleep, while a relay of watchmen kept watch from a point of
vantage overlooking the plain.

1 1.H.571.

LIII

Revenge

QURAYSH were now busy about their dead and their wounded.
The losses had not been great: there were only twenty-two killed
out of three thousand. Then they counted the losses of the enemy
and found about sixty-five dead, many of whom they did not
know. Only three were Emigrants: Hamzah of Hashim, Mus*ab of 'Abd
ad-Dar, and 'Abd Allah ibn Jahsh, A few other bodies at some distance
from the centre of the field, wounded as well as dead, escaped their notice.
Amongst these was Shammas, still alive but unable to move. In vain they
searched for the body of Muhammad, and while they were doing so
WahshI went back to the body of Hamzah, ripped open his belly, cut out
his liver and brought it to Hind. "What shall be mine for slaying the slayer
of thy father?" he said. "All my share of the spoils," was her answer. "This
is Hamzah's liver," he said, and she took it from him and bit away a piece
of it, chewed it, swallowed a morsel in fulfilment of her vow and spat out
the rest. "Show me where he is," she said, and when they reached the body
she cut off his nose and ears and other parts of his flesh. Then she took off
her necklaces and pendants and anklets and gave them to WahshI, telling
the women who were with her to mutilate others of the dead. They all
made for themselves ornaments of vengeance with what they cut from the
bodies of the Muslims, and Hind mounted upon a rock and uttered a chant
of triumph. One or two men of Quraysh also sought to slake their thirst for
revenge by mutilating the dead, but their Bedouin allies were outraged.
Abu Sufyan was striking the side of Hamzah's mouth with the point of his
spear and saying "Taste that, thou rebel" when Hulays passed by, the
leader of one of the clans of Kinanah. In a loud voice, so that Abu Sufyan
could hear, he said: "O sons of Kinanah, can this be the lord of Quraysh
who is doing what ye see with the body of his dead cousin?" "Confound
thee," said Abu Sufyan, "tell not of it. A slip it was, no more."^

Meantime Abu 'Amir came upon the body of his son Hanzalah, and
grievously lamented over him saying: "Did I not warn thee against this
man?" - he meant the Prophet. "But thou wast a dutiful son unto thy
father, noble of character in thy life, and in thy death thou Uest with the
flower of thy companions. If God requite with good this slain one" - he
pointed to Hamzah - "or any of the followers of Muhammad, may he
requite thee with good!"^ Then he looked sternly at Hind and the other
women and said in a loud voice: "O Quraysh, let not Hanzalah be

U.58Z. 2 W.174.

I90 Muhammad

mutilated, what though he was mine adversary and yours!" And they
respected his wishes.

It was now presumed that Ubayy had not been mistaken, and that the
Prophet was with his army somewhere on the high ground above the plain.
But the battle was over: there could be no question of attacking the
mountain, and the slaves had already been told to strike camp. So when
they had buried their own dead and taken their fill of revenge on the enemy
dead, they loaded the armour and whatever else they had stripped from
them onto their camels, and prepared to set off. But before they did so Abu
Sufyan mounted his chestnut mare and rode to the foot of the mountain, to
the point nearest where the Prophet and his Companions had been
stationed, and shouted at the top of his voice: "War goeth by turns, and
this is a day for a day. Exalt thyself, O Hubal! Make prevail thy religion!"
The Prophet told 'Umar to go and answer him, saying: "God is All-
Highest, Supreme in Majesty. We are not equal: our slain are in Paradise,
yours are in the Fire." So *Umar went to the edge of the precipice below
which Abu Sufyan was standing and answered him as the Prophet had
said, whereupon Abu Sufyan called up to *Umar, having recognised his
voice: "I adjure thee, 'Umar, by God, have we slain Muhammad?" "No,
by God," said *Umar, "but he is even now listening to what thou sayest."
"I take thy word for it as truer than the word of Ibn Qami'ah," said Abu
Sufyan. He turned to go, but turning back once more he added: "Some of
your dead have been mutilated. By God, I take no pleasure therein, neither
am I wroth. I forbade it not, nor did I command it." Then he said: "Badr be
your meeting-place with us next year!" Hearing this, the Prophet sent
another of his Companions to the edge of the cliff, to shout his response:
"That is a binding tryst between us."^

Abu Sufyan rode to where his army was waiting for him at the further
side of the plain, and they set off towards the south. It was too far for
*Umar to discern clearly their formation, so the Prophet sent Sa*d of
Zuhrah down to the plain to follow them and see what they were about. "If
they are leading their horses", he said, "and riding their camels, they are
for Mecca; but if they are riding their horses and leading their camels, they
are for Medina; and by Him in whose hand is my soul, if that is their aim, I
will overtake them and fight them." Sa*d went dovm to the gully where the
Prophet's stallion Sakb had been tethered ever since their arrival in Uhud,
and having ridden after the Meccans until he had a clear sight of them, he
then hastened back with the good tidings that their horsemen were on
camelback leading their horses beside them. As one of them said in
after-years, namely *Amr^, who had taken part with Khalid in the decisive
cavalry charge: "We had heard that Ibn Ubayy had returned to Medina
with a third of the arnly, and that some men of Aws and Khazraj had
stayed in the city. Nor could we be certain that those who had retreated
would not return to the attack; and many of us were wounded, and nearly
all our horses had been pierced by arrows, so we went on our way,"^

' U. 583. 2 Seep. 81. ^

LIV

The Burial of the
Martyrs

THE Prophet now led his Companions down into the plain. Harith
ibn as-Simmah had been sent on ahead to look for the body of
Hamzah, but when he found him he was so appalled at the sight and
at having to tell the Prophet that he did not at once return, and 'All was sent
after him. He found Harith standing aghast by the mutilated body, and
they both returned together. When the Prophet saw what had been done he
said: "Never yet have I felt more anger than now I feel; and when next God
giveth me a victory over Quraysh I will mutilate thirty of their dead."^ But
soon after this there came the Revelation: If ye inflict punishment, then
inflict only so much as ye have suffered; hut if ye endure patiently , that is
better for the patient} And not only did he not fulfil his threat, but he
expressly forbade mutilation after every battle. Moreover, as regards the
fighting itself, he told them to respect the human face as being the most
godlike part of the body: "When one of you striketh a blow, let him avoid
striking the face ... for God created Adam in His image.

*Abd Allah ibn Jahsh had been struck down not far from Hamzah, and
his body also had been mutilated. But when the Prophet turned away from
them to look for others of the dead, a very different sight met his eyes. One
of the nearest bodies to those of his two kinsmen was the body of
Hanzalah. Neither man nor woman of Quraysh had ventured to touch
him, and he lay there even as the Angels had laid him, with his hair still wet
with water upon the noon-dry earth. None passed him by who did not give
thanks, for in his beauty and his peace he was as a sign from Heaven, to
inform the bereaved of the present state of their martyred kinsmen.

Not far away were the bodies of Khaythamah and Ibn ad-Datidaliah —
Khaythamah whose martyred son had appeared to him in his sleep,
bidding him hasten to join him, and Thabit ibn ad-Dahdahah who had
made a gift of the palm-tree to the orphan. When the Prophet saw Thabit,
he said: "Palms with low-hanging heavy-laden clusters, what a multitude
of these hath the son of Dahdahah in Paradise!"^
When one of the clans of Aws were looking for their dead, they found to

' U.584, 2 XVI, 126. ' A.RI,Z5i;M.XLV,32. ' W. 505.

192 Muhammad

their surprise a man of theirs named Usayrim whom only the day before
they had rebuked for not being a Muslim. Whenever they spoke to him
about Islam he used to say: "If I knew it to be true, all that ye say, I would
not hesitate." Yet there he was on the field of battle, mortally wounded but
not yet dead. "What brought thee here?" they said. "Was it care for thy
people, or was it for the sake of Islam?" "It was for Islam," he said.
"Suddenly I believed in God and in his Messenger and I entered Islam.
Then I took my sword and came out early this morning to be with the
Messenger of God; and I fought until I was struck the blow that felled me
here." He could say no more and they stayed with him until he died. Then
they told the Prophet, who assured them that he was of the people of
Paradise, and in after years Usayrim came to be known as the man who
entered Paradise without ever having prayed one of the five daily prayers.

Amongst the dead they found a stranger, or so it seemed at first, until one
of them recognised him as Mukhayriq, a learned rabbi of the Jewish clan of
Tha'labah. Early that morning, as they were afterwards informed, he had
summoned his people to keep their pact with the Prophet and to join him in
fighting the idolaters, and when they protested that it was the Sabbath he
said: "Ye keep not the Sabbath truly." Then he adjured them to witness
that Muhammad was his sole heir. "If I am slain this day," he said, "my
possessions are for Muhammad, to use even as God shall show him." Then
taking his sword and other weapons he set out for Uhud, where he fought
till he was killed. Thereafter a large portion of the alms that were
distributed in Medina came from the rich palm groves that the Prophet
inherited from Mukhayriq, "the best of the Jews", as he called him.

As soon as it was clear that the Meccans intended to return the way they
had come, thus giving Medina a wide berth, women began to set out from
the city to tend the wounded and to see for themselves how true or how
false were the various rumours that ever since noon had been coming to
their ears. Among the first women to come were Safiyyah and 'A'ishah and
Umm Ayman. The Prophet was distressed to see Safiyyah approaching,
and he called to Zubayr: "Help me with thy mother, and let Hamzah's
grave be dug forthwith. Go thou to meet her and take her back, lest she see
what hath befallen her brother." So Zubayr went to her and said:
"Mother, the Messenger of God biddeth thee return." But Safiyyah had
already learned the news at the edge of the field. "Why should I return?"
she said. "I have heard that my brother hath been mutilated, but it was for
the sake of God, and that which is for His sake do we fully accept. I
promise that I shall be calm and patient if God will." Zubayr returned to
the Prophet, who told him to let her have her way. So she came and looked
at her brother and prayed over him and recited the Verse of Return: Verily
we are for God, and verily unto Him are we returning; and they all took
comfort in remembering the context of this verse, from a Revelation which
had been received after Badr: O ye who believe, seek help of God in
steadfastness and in prayer. Verily God is with the steadfast. And say not
"dead" of those who have been slain in God's path, for they are living, only
ye perceive not. And We shall surely try you with something of fear and of
hunger, and loss of goods and lives and harvesting. But give good tidings
unto the steadfast, who say when a blow befalleth them: Verily we are for

The Burial of the Martyrs 193

God, and verily unto Him are we returning. On these are blessings from
their Lord and mercy; and these are the rightly guided.^

Safiyyah then stood and prayed over the body of her sister Umaymah's
son, 'Abd Allah ibn Jahsh, and she was soon joined by Fatimah. The two
women wept over their dead, and it was a relief to the Prophet to weep with
them. Fatimah t len dressed her father's wounds. Their cousin Hamnah,
'Abd Allah's sister, was now seen approaching, and their sorrow was
increased by having to tell her of the death of her husband Mus/ab, as well
as of the deaths of her brother and her uncle. When the battle was already
well advanced the Prophet had seen Mus*ab, as he thought, still bearing
the banner, and had called out to him. But the man had answered: **I am
not Mus'ab", and the Prophet had known that it was an Angel and that
Mus/ab must have been killed or disabled. He now stood by the dead
man's body and recited the verse: Of the believers are men who are true to
their covenant with God, Some of them have made good their vow by
death, and some are waiting, and they waver not nor change,^

He ordered that all the dead should be brought and laid near the body of
Hamzah, and that graves should be dug. Hamzah was wrapped in a
mantle, and the Prophet prayed over him the funeral prayer, after which he
prayed over each one of the dead, seventy-two prayers in all. As soon as a
grave was ready, two or three were buried in it. Hamzah and his nephew
'Abd Allah were laid together in one grave. The Prophet himself presided
over every burial. "Look for *Amr the son of Jamuh and * Abd Allah the son
of Amr," he said. "In this world they were friends inseparable, so lay them
in one grave." But Hind, wife of * Amr and sister of *Abd Allah - the father
of Jabir — had already brought the two bodies together, and with them the
body of her son Khallad. She had tried to take them to Medina, but when
her camel had reached the edge of the plain he had refused to go any further
- by God's command, as the Prophet told her - and she had been obliged to
bring the bodies once more to the battlefield. So the three were laid in one
grave, and the Prophet stood beside them until they were buried. "O
Hind," he said, "they are all of them together in Paradise, * Amr and thy son
Khallad and thy brother *Abd Allah," "O Messenger of God," said Hind,
"pray God that He place me with them."

Unlike most of the dead, the man of Muzaynah who had fought so
valiantly had none of his people present, for his nephew had also fought to
the death. So the Prophet went to him and stood beside him saying: "May
God be pleased with thee, even as I am pleased with thee."^ They had
wrapped his body in a green-striped cloak he was wearing, and when he
was laid in the grave the Prophet drew it up to cover his face and his feet
were uncovered. So he told them to gather some rue from the plain and
to spread it over his feet. And this he bade them do with many of the
dead, that both their faces and their feet might be covered before the earth
was piled up over them.

Wlien the last grave had been filled the Prophet called for his horse and
mounted it, and they set off down the gorge, the way they had come at
dawn. When they reached the beginning of the lava tract he told them to

11,153-7. ^ XXXIII, ' "^f.xjl.

194 Muhammad

stand in line to give praise and thanksgiving to God, and the men formed
two lines facing Mecca, with the women behind them, fourteen women in
all. Then he glorified God, and prayed, saying: *'0 God, I ask of thee Thy
blessing and Thy mercy and Thy grace and Thine indulgence. O God, I ask
of Thee the eternal bliss that fadeth not nor passeth away. O God, I ask of
Thee safety on the day of fear, and plenty on the day of destitution." '

W.315.

After Uhud

THE sun was setting as they approached the city and they prayed the
sunset prayer as soon as they reached the Mosque. The Prophet then
lay down to rest and fell into so deep a sleep that he did not hear
Bilal's call to the night prayer, but prayed it alone in his house when he
woke. The two Sa*ds of the Helpers and other leaders of Aws and Khazraj
spent the night at the door of the Mosque and took it in turns to stand on
guard, for there was still always the possibility that Quraysh might return;
and early the next morning, when the prayer had been prayed, the Prophet
told Bilal to announce to them and to others that the enemy must be
pursued. "But none shall go out with us," he said, "save those who were
present at the battle of yesterday."

When the chiefs returned to their various clans they found most of the
men tending their wounds or having them tended by their women, for very
few of the fighters at Uhud were unscathed, and many of them were
severely injured. But on hearing the Prophet's summons they bandaged
their wounds as best they could and made themselves ready to set out once
again, all except Malik and Shammas. Malik, now in an extremity of
weakness, was being tended by his family. Shammas, none of whose
nearest of kin were in Medina, had been carried unconscious from the
battlefield to *A'ishah's apartment. But Umm Salamah claimed the right
to tend her fellow clansman, so he was put in her charge. Since his death
seemed imminent, the Prophet left instructions that he should not be
buried in Medina but with his fellow martyrs at Uhud.

The Prophet himself was one of the first to be ready, although he could
now scarcely move his right shoulder, which had taken the shock of the
blow intended for his head. When Talhah came to inquire about the time
of departure, he was astonished to see him on horseback at the door of the
mosque, with his visor down and nothing visible of him but his eyes.
Disabled though he was, Talhah ran to his house to make himself ready.

Amongst those of the Bani Salimah who set out there were forty
wounded men, some of them with more than ten gashes or thrusts or arrow
wounds; and when they stood in line for the Prophet at the appointed place
and he saw what plight they were in he rejoiced at the power of their souls
over their bodies, and prayed: "O God, have mercy upon the Bani
Salimah!" Of all the clans, only one man went out who had not fought at
Uhud, and that was Jabir. On hearing the summons that morning he had
gone to the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of God, I was eager to be
present at the battle, but my father left me in charge of my seven young

196 Muhammad

sisters. And thus it was that for martyrdom God preferred him to me,
though I had hoped for it. So let me go with thee now, O Messenger of
God," And the Prophet gave him permission to march out with the others.

They made their first halt about eight miles from Medina. The enemy
were by that time encamped at Rawha', which was not far ahead. On
hearing this the Prophet ordered his men to spread themselves over a wide
area of ground and to gather as much wood as they could find, piling it up
each man for himself in a separate pile. By sunset they had prepared over
five hundred beacons, and when night had fallen every man set fire to his.
The flames were seen far and wide, as if a great army were encamped there.
This impression was confirmed for Abu Sufyan by a man of Khuza'ah who,
though still an idolater, was friendly to the Muslims and who told him with
deliberate untruth that the whole city of Medina had come out in pursuit of
them, including all those who had stayed behind from Uhud and all their
confederates. "By God," he said, "ye will not have moved off before ye
have seen the forelocks of their cavalry." Some of Quraysh had wanted to
return and attack Medina, but they now unanimously decided to press on
with all speed for Mecca. None the less Abu Sufyan sent back a parting
message for the Prophet by some riders who were on their way to Medina
for provisions. "Tell Muhammad from me," he said, "that we are resolved
to come against him and his companions and to root them out, those that
yet remain, from the face of the earth. Tell him this, and when ye reach
'Ukaz on your return I will load your camel with raisins." When they
delivered the message to the Prophet, he answered in the words of a recent
Revelation; God is our sufficiency, and supremely to he trusted is He?

He and his Companions spent the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at
their camp, lighting beacons every night, and those were days of much-
needed rest and plenty. There had been an excellent fruit harvest the
previous summer, and Sa*d ibn *Ubadah had loaded thirty camels with
dates, and others had been brought to be sacrificed. On the Thursday they
returned to Medina.

Shammas had died soon after they had set out and he had been buried at
Uhud. Malik had also died during their absence, but his family had buried
him in Medina. The Prophet now gave orders that his body should be
taken to Uhud and buried there.

On his return from fighting at Uhud, *Abd Allah the son of Ibn Ubayy
had spent part of the night after the battle cauterising a wound, while his
father enlarged on the folly of having gone out to attack the enemy. "By
God, it was as if I had seen it all," he said. "What God did for His
Messenger and the Muslims was good," said his son. But Ibn Ubayy was
not to open to argument. "If the slain had been with us, they would not have
been slain," he insisted. Nor had he been silent during his son's recent
absence from Medina with the rest of the fighters, neither had the Jews
refrained from affirming with more conviction than ever: "Muhammad is
nothing but a seeker of kingship. No Prophet hath ever met with such
reverse. He was smitten in his own body, as well as in his companions."

Much of what had been said by both Jews and hypocrites was repeated

111,173.

After Uhud 197

to 'Umar on his return from the expedition of the beacons. He immediately
went to the Prophet and asked his permission to kill those who were
responsible, but the Prophet forbade him to do so. "God will make prevail
His religion," he said, "and He will empower His prophet." Then he said:
"O son of Khattab, verily Quraysh shall not gain from us the like of that
day again, and we shall greet the Corner."^ - he meant that they would
enter Mecca and kiss Black Stone.

Although 'Umar's hands were tied, Ibn Ubayy did not escape altogether
unscathed. He had taken to occupying a place of honour in the Mosque at
the Friday prayer, and no one had thought to deny him this on account of
his standing in Medina. When the Prophet mounted the pulpit to preach,
he would rise and say: "O people, this is the Messenger of God. May God
through him be bountiful to you and give you strength! Help ye him
therefore and honour him and hear him and obey him." Then he would be
seated again. But when he rose to speak as usual on the day after their
return, the first Friday since Uhud, those of the Helpers who were nearest
him seized him on both sides, saying "Sit, thou enemy of God. Thou art not
worthy to hold forth, having done what thou didst," whereupon he left the
congregation, threading his way through the densely seated men. One of
the Helpers who met him at the door of the Mosque said to him: "Return
and let the Messenger of God ask forgiveness for thee." But he said: "By
God, I want not that he should ask forgiveness for me."

In the days which followed Uhud, the Prophet received many Revela-
tions concerning the battle, and it appeared from them that a considerable
portion of two of the clans had seriously thought of deserting the army
shortly before the fight was joined, and that God had strengthened them
and given them resolution. One of the two were the Bani Salimah of
Khazraj, whose bearing had so pleased the Prophet as they were setting out
in pursuit of the enemy. When they and the Bani Harithah of Aws heard
the Revelation^ they said that they were the ones referred to, but that they
did not regret their moment of weakness because it had brought them
strength from God, which was better than their own strength. Other verses
were revealed with reference to those survivors of the sudden cavalry
charge who had fled in panic to the mountain, and in particular to those of
them who had previously urged the Prophet to go out to fight, so that they
might attain to martyrdom. Deemed ye that ye would enter Paradise ere
God knoweth those of you that truly strive and ere He knoweth the
steadfast^ Ye wished for death until ye met it; now ye have seen it face to
face!^

But the Revelation made it none the less clear that those who had
disobeyed orders had expiated their faults on the battlefield and had been
forgiven. Part of their expiation had been their great sorrow at hearing that
the Prophet was dead.'' It was also affirmed, with reference to the visible
ruins that remained from previous civilisations, that the established order
of things in Arabia would pass away, and that Islam would triumph: Ways
of life have passed away before you. Travel in the land and see what was
the end of those who belied God's messengers. This is a clear affirmation

W.317. ^ 111,122. ' 111,142-3. ^ 111,152-s.

198 Muhammad

for mankind, and a guidance and an exhortation for the pious. Falter not
nor grieve, for ye shall overcome them if ye are true believers, ^

There was also another reference to the future, of a different kind:
Muhammad is but a messenger y and messengers have passed away before
him. If he die or be slain, will ye then turn upon your heels f Whoso turneth
upon his heels will thereby do no hurt unto God; and God will reward the
thankfuL^

' 111,137-9. ' in»i44.

LVI

Victims of Revenge

OR two months and more there was nothing to disturb the peace.

Then came news that the Bani Asad ibn Khuzaymah were planning a

JL raid on the oasis. Notwithstanding the Islam of the Jahsh family and
other Asadites who had previously lived in Mecca, the main body of this
widespread and poAverful tribe of Najd were still close allies of Quraysh,
who had now encouraged them to take advantage of the disabling effect of
Uhud. It was therefore necessary to demonstrate to them and to all Arabia
that the Muslims derived strength from Uhud rather than weakness. So the
Prophet sent out a body of a hundred and fifty well armed and well
mounted men into their territory to the north of the central desert under
the command of his cousin Abu Salamah with instructions to do all in his
power to take their camp by surprise. This they succeeded in doing, but
after a brief encounter, with little bloodshed on either side, the Bedouin
withdrew and scattered in all directions, while the Muslims returned to
Medina after eleven days with a large herd of camels and three herdsmen.
The expedition had served its main purpose, which was to affirm the
undiminished power of Islam.

About the same time news came of the danger of another projected raid
from further south; but in this instance the Prophet divined that the
hostility against Islam was all concentrated in one remarkably evil man,
the chief of the Lihyanite branch of Hudhayl. If they could be rid of him,
the danger from that quarter would become negligible; so he sent *Abd
Allah ibn Unays, a man of Khazraj, with instructions to kill him. "O
Messenger of God," said 'Abd Allah, "describe him to me that I may know
him." "When thou seest him," said the Prophet, "he will remind thee of
Satan. The certain sign for thee that he is indeed the man will be that when
thou seest him thou wilt shudder at him," It was as he had said; and,
having killed the man, *Abd Allah escaped with his life.

All idea of the projected raid against Medina was now abandoned, but
it was no doubt in revenge for this death of one of their chiefs that in the
following month some men of Hudhayl attacked six Muslims who were on
their way to give religious instruction to two of the smaller neighbouring
tribes. The encounter took place in Raji*, a watering place not far from
Mecca. Three of the Prophet's men died fighting, and three were taken
captive, one of whom was subsequently killed when he tried to escape.
Amongst those who died fighting was ' Asim of Aws who had killed two of
the standard bearers of Quraysh at Uhud. Their mother had sworn to
drink wine out of his skull, and the men of Hudhayl were bent on selling

2.00 Muhammad

her his head for that purpose. But 'Asim's body was protected from them
by a swarm of bees until nightfall, and during the night it was swept away
by a flood, so that the mother's vow was never fulfilled. As for the two
captives, Khubayb of Aws and Zayd of Khazraj, they were sold to
Quraysh, who were still glad of any means of avenging those slain at Badr.
Khubayb was bought by a confederate of the Bani Nawfal and presented to
a member of that clan so that he might kill him in revenge for his father.
Safwan bought Zayd for a similar purpose, and the two men were
imprisoned in Mecca until the sacred months were past.

After the sighting of the new moon of Safar they were taken outside the
hallowed precinct to Tan'im. There they met for the first time since their
imprisonment, and they embraced, and exhorted each other to patience.
Then the Bani Nawfal and others who were with them took Khubayb a
short distance away, and when he saw that they were about to bind him to
a stake he asked to be allowed to pray first, and he prayed two cycles of the
ritual prayer. It is said that he was the inaugurator of the wont that a
condemned man should pray thus before his death. Then they bound him
to the stake saying: "Revert from Islam, and we will let thee go free." "I
would not revert from Islam," he said, "if by so doing I could have all that
is on earth." "Dost thou not wish that Muhammad were in thy place,"
they said, "and {that thou wert sitting in thy home?" '*I would not that
Muhammad should be pierced by a single thorn that I might thereby be
sitting in my home," he answered. "Revert, O Khubayb," they persisted,
"for if thou dost not we will surely slay thee." "My being slain for God is
but a trifle, if I die in Him," he said, and then: "As to your turning my face
away from the direction of holiness" - he meant from Mecca, for they had
turned him another way - "verily God saith: Wheresoever ye turn, there is
the Face of God Then he said: "O God, no man is here who will take
Thy Messenger my greeting of Peace, so take him Thou my greeting of
Peace." Now the Prophet was sitting with Zayd and others of his Compan-
ions in Medina, and there came over him a state even as when the
Revelation descended upon him, and they heard him say: "And on him be
Peace and the Mercy of God!" Then he said: "This is Gabriel, who greeteth
me with Peace from Khubayb."^

Quraysh had with them about forty boys whose fathers had been killed
at Badr, and they gave each boy a spear and said: "This is he who slew your
fathers." They speared him but did not kill him, so a man put his hand over
the hand of one of the boys and gave Khubayb a mortal wound, and
another did the same, yet he remained alive for an hour, continually
repeating the two testifications of Islam: There is no god but God, and
Muhammad is the messenger of God.

His fellow captive Zayd was then put to death, and he also prayed two
cycles of prayer before he was tied to the stake, and gave similar answers to
the same questions. Akhnas ibn ash-Shariq, the confederate of Zuhrah,
who had gone out with the others to Tan'im, was impelled to remark: "No
father so loveth his son as the companions of Muhammad love Mu-
hammad."

11,115. 2

Victims of Revenge loi

When 'Ubaydah had died after his single combat with *Utbah at the
beginning of the battle of Badr, he had left a widow who was very much
younger than himself, Zaynab, the daughter of Khuzaymah of the Bedouin
tribe of 'Amir. She was of a very generous nature, and already before the
days of Islam she had been known as "the mother of the poor". A year after
being widowed she was still unmarried, and when the Prophet asked her to
marry him she gladly accepted. A fourth apartment was made for her in his
house adjoining the Mosque, and it was doubtless in connection with this
new alliance that the Prophet now received a visit from Abu Bara', the
ageing chief of Zaynab's tribe. When Islam was put before him, the old
man made it clear that he was not averse to it. He did not however embrace
it then, but asked that some Muslims should be sent to instrua his whole
tribe. The Prophet said that he was afraid they would be attacked by other
tribes. The Bani 'Amir were a branch of Hawazin, and their territory lay to
the south of Sulaym and other tribes of Ghatafan, against whom the oasis
of Yathrib had to be continually on its guard. But Abu Bara' promised that
no one would violate the protection which, as chief of * Amir, he would give
them, so the Prophet chose forty of his Companions who were eminently
representative of Islam both in piety and knowledge, and he placed in
command of them a man of Khazraj, Mundhir ibn 'Amr. One of them was
*Amir ibn Fuhayrah, the freedman whom Abu Bakr had chosen to
accompany the Prophet and himself on the Hijrah.

It was not known in Medina that Abu Bara' 's leadership was disputed
within the tribe, and his nephew, who aspired to be chief in his place, killed
one of the Companions who had been sent on ahead with a letter from the
Prophet, and called upon his tribe to slaughter the others. When the tribe
proved to be almost unanimous in upholding Abu Bara' 's protection, the
frustrated nephew sent a message of instigation to two clans of Sulaym
who had recently been involved in hostilities with Medina. They im-
mediately sent out a detachment of horse and massacred the whole
delegation of unsuspecting Muslims in their camp by the well of Ma'unah,
except for two men who had gone to pasture the camels. One of these two
was Harith ibn as-Simmah, who had fought so valiantly at Uhud. The
other was 'Amr, of the Damrah clan of Kinanah. As they returned from
pasturing, they were dismayed to see vultures in great numbers circling low
above their camp, as over a battlefield when the fighting has been finished;
and they found their companions lying dead in their own blood, with the
horsemen of Sulaym standing near them, absorbed in so earnest a discus-
sion amongst themselves that they did not appear to notice the newcomers,
'Amr was for escaping to Medina with the news, but Harith said "I am not
one to hold back from fighting on a field where Mundhir hath been slain,'*
and he threw himself on the enemy, killing two of them before he and 'Amr
were overpowered and taken captive. They were strangely unwilling to kill
either of them, even Harith, although two of their men had just died at his
hands, and they asked him what they should do with him. He said he only
wanted to be taken to where Mundhir' s body lay and to be given weapons
and set free to fight them all. They granted his request, and he killed
another two men before he was finally killed himself. *Amr they set free,
and they asked him to tell them the names of all his dead companions. He

20Z Muhammad

went with them to each one, and told them his name and lineage. Then they
asked him if any of them were missing. "I cannot find a freedman of AbQ
Bakr," he said, "named 'Amir ibn Fuhayrah." "What was his position
amongst you?" they asked. "He was one of the best of us," said'Amr, "one
of our Prophet's first Companions." "Shall I tell thee what befell him?"
said his questioner. Then they called to one of their number, Jabbar, who
had himself killed 'Amir, and Jabbar recounted how he had come upon
him from behind and thrust him between the shoulders with his spear. The
point came out from 'Amir*s chest, and with his last breath the words "I
have triumphed, by God" were ejaculated from his lips. "What could that
mean?" thought Jabbar, feeling that he himself had more right to claim a
triumph. In amazement he drew out his spear, to be still more amazed
when unseen hands carried the body high up into the air until it was lost to
sight. When it was explained to Jabbar that the "triumph" meant Paradise,
he entered Islam. The Prophet said, when he heard of the event, that the
Angels had taken 'Amir to 'Illiyyun,^ which is one of the supreme
Paradises.^

The men of Sulaym returned to their tribe, where the story of what had
befallen was repeated again and again, and this was the beginning of their
conversion. As to the liberated survivor, 'Amr, they told him that the
massacre had been instigated by the Bani 'Amir; and on his way back to
Medina he killed two men of that tribe, thinking to avenge his dead
companions. But both men were in fact entirely innocent, loyal to Abu
Bara' and recognising his protection of the believers, so the Prophet
insisted that blood-wite should be paid for them to their nearest of kin.

W.349. 2 K.LXXX111, 18-19.

LVII

Bani NadTr

THE Jewish tribe of Nadir had long been confederates of the Bani
*Amir, and the Prophet decided to ask them to help him pay the
blood-wite. So he went to them with Abu Bakr and 'Umar and
others of his Companions and laid the matter before them. They agreed to
do what he requested, and invited them to stay until a meal could be
prepared for them. The Prophet accepted their invitation, and some of the
Jews withdrew, amongs': them one of their chiefs, Huyay, ostensibly to
give instructions about the entertainment of their guests. While they were
sitting there, in front of one of the fortresses, Gabriel came to the Prophet,
unseen by any save him, and told him that the Jews were planning to kill
him and that he must return to Medina at once. So he rose and left the
company without a word, and everyone assumed that he would quickly
rejoin them. But when some time had passed and he had not returned Abu
Bakr suggested to the other Companions that they also should go, so they
took their leave of the Jews and went to the Prophet's house. He explained
to them what had happened and then he sent Muhammad ibn Maslamah
to the Bani Nadir, telling him what to say to them. He went with all speed
to their fortresses and some of their leaders came out to meet him. "The
Messenger of God," he told them, "hath sent me to you, and he saith: *By
your purposing to slay me, ye have broken the pact I made with you.'"
Then, having recounted to them the exact details of their plot, as the
Prophet had bidden him do, he delivered the gist of his message: "I give you
ten days to depart from my country," saith the Prophet. "Whosoever of
you is seen after that, his head shall be cut off." "O son of Maslamah,"
they said, "we never thought that a man of Aws would bring us such a
message." "Hearts have changed," he replied.

Most of them had already started preparations to leave, but Ibn Ubayy
sent word urging them to remain and promising his support, and Huyay,
not without difficulty, persuaded them to stand firm, for he felt sure that
their Bedouin allies would not fail them in this crisis, let alone their
powerful home allies, the Jews of Bani Qurayzah; and having dispatched
urgent appeals for help to all of these, he sent his brother to the Prophet
with the message: "We shall not leave our dwellings and our possessions,
so do what thou wilt." ''Alldhu Akbar" said the Prophet, "God is most
great," and his Companions who were sitting with him echoed his
magnification. "The Jews have declared war," he informed them. Im-
mediately he mustered an army and placing the banner in the hands of 'All
he set off for the settlements of Na^ir, a little to the south of the city. They

Z04 Muhammad

prayed the afternoon prayer in a spacious courtyard which the Jews had
now vacated since it was outside their defences. After the prayer thfe
Prophet led his troops towards the fortresses.

The ramparts were manned by archers and slingers^ who had also rocks
at their disposal in case the walls came to be attacked. The two sides kept
up an exchange of arrows and stones until dark. The Jews had been
astonished by the speed of their attackers; but the next day - so they
thought - help was bound to come from Qurayzah and Ibn Ubayy; then, in
two days or three, their allies of Ghatafan would be with them. Meantime
the Muslim army was being increased by a continual stream of men from
Medina who had been unable for some reason or another to set out with
the Prophet. By the time of the night prayer the greatly increased army was
large enough to surround the enemy on all sides. The Prophet prayed with
them, and then returned with ten of his Companions to Medina, leaving
'All in charge of the camp. They chanted a litany of magnification the
whole night long, until it was time for the dawn prayer. The Prophet
rejoined them in the course of the morning.

The days passed and the Bani Nadir began to despair of the help which
many of them had thought to be certain. The Bani Qurayzah refused to
break their pact with the Prophet, the Bani Ghatafan maintained an
enigmatic silence, and again Ibn Ubayy was forced to admit that he could
do nothing. As the hopes of the besieged men dwindled, the mutual
animosity amongst them increased. The tribe had long been rent with ill
feeling and bitterness; and now that they were completely cut off from the
outer world, with no sign of help from any direction, the situation was felt
to be intolerable. It became altogether so when, after ten days or more, the
Prophet gave orders to cut down some of the palm-trees which were in
sight of the walls. This was a sacrifice, for he knew that the territory was
virtually his own; but it was done by Divine permission,^ which could be
taken as a command, and it had the immediate effect of demolishing the
enemy's resistance. They gloried in their palms, which were one of their
chief sources of revenue; and if they were compelled to leave their land
now they would still think of it as theirs, for they had reason to hope that in
the near future they would have the opportunity of regaining it. Quraysh
had promised to eradicate Islam from the oasis. But if the palms were
destroyed it would take many years to replace them. Only a few had been
cut down, but to what length would this destruction be carried? Huyay
sent word to the Prophet that they would leave their land, but the Prophet
said he was no longer prepared to agree that they should take all their
possessions into exile with them. "Leave your land," he said, "and take
with you all that your camels can carry, except your arms and armour."

Huyay at first refused, but his fellow tribesmen compelled him to accept;
and they resumed the preparations that had been cut short two weeks
previously. The doors of their houses and even the lintels were loaded on to
their camels; and when all was ready they set off for the north upon the
road to Syria. Never had a caravan of such magnificence been seen within
living memory. As they made their way through the crowded market of

1 K.LIX,5.

Bani Nadir 205

Medina, the camels went into single file, and each one as it passed was an
object of wonder, both for the richness of its trappings and the wealth of its
load. The splendid curtains of the howdahs were drawn back to display the
women in their garments of silk or brocade, or velvet, green or red, most of
them laden with ornaments of the finest gold, set with rubies, emeralds and
other precious stones. The Bani Nadir were known to be opulent, but until
now only a small portion of their riches had been seen by others than
themselves. They went on their way to the music of timbrels and fifes, and
proudly gave it out that if they had left their palms behind them, they had
others equally good elsewhere, and to those they were now going. Many of
them stopped and settled on land which they owned in Khaybar, but others
went further north and settled in Jericho or in the south of Syria. According
to the Revelation, the land of the Bani Nadir and all that they left behind
them was the possession of the Prophet, to be given to the poor and needy,
and in particular to the poor emigrants who have been driven from their
homes} Only two of the Helpers were given a share, and that was on
account of their poverty. But by giving the main part to the Emigrants the
Prophet made them independent, and thus relieved the Helpers of a heavy
burden.

' UX.8.

LVIII

Feace and War

DURING the months which followed, soon after the New Year of
AD 626, Fatimah gave birth to another son. The Prophet was so
pleased with the name al-Hasan that he now named the younger
brother al-Husayn, which means "the little Hasan," that is "the little
beautiful one." About the same time his new wife, Zaynab, "the mother of
the poor," fell ill and died, less than eight months after he had married her.
He led her funeral prayer and buried her in the Baq? not far from the grave
of his daughter Ruqayyah. The next month his cousin Abu Salamah died of
a wound from Uhud which had closed too soon and broken out afresh. The
Prophet was with him at the end and prayed for him as he was breathing
his last; and it was the Prophet who closed his eyes when he was dead.

Abu Salamah and his wife had been a most devoted couple, and she had
wanted him to make a pact with her that if one of them died the other
would not marry again, but he told her that if he died first she should marry
again, and he prayed: "God grant Umm Salamah after me a man who is
better than me, one who will cause her no sadness and no hurt." Four
months after his death the Prophet came and asked for her hand in
marriage. She replied that she feared she was not a suitable match for him.
"I am a woman whose best time hath gone," she said, "and I am the
mother of orphans. What is more, I have a nature of exceeding jealousy,
and thou, O Messenger of God, hast already more than one wife." He
answered: "As to age, I am older than thou; as to thy jealousy, I will pray
God to take it from thee; as to thine orphan children, God and His
Messenger will care for them." And so they were married, and he lodged
her in the house which had belonged to Zaynab.

Despite what she had said of her age, Umm Salamah was still in her
youth, no more than twenty-nine years old. She had been only eighteen
when she had emigrated to Abyssinia with Abu Salamah. As regards her
jealousy, she rightly feared that this marriage would put her to the test, nor
was she alone in having such fears. 'A'ishah had accepted Hafsah without
difficulty, and also Zaynab; but with this new wife it was different, partly
no doubt because she herself was older, being almost in her fourteenth
year. She had often met Umm Salamah, and it was together with her that
she had made the preparations for Fatimah's wedding. But she had never
looked on her as a possible rival. Now, however, when everyone in Medina
was talking of the Prophet's new marriage and of the great beauty of his
bride, she was troubled and apprehensive. "I was grievously sad," she said,
"for what they told me of her beauty, so I made myself agreeable to her that

Peace and War 2.07

I might observe her closely, and I saw that she was many times more
beautiful than they had said. I told Haf sah of this and she said: *Nay , this is
naught but thy jealousy; she is not as they say.' Then she also made herself
agreeable to Umm Salamah that she might let her own eyes judge, and she
said: *I have observed her, but she is not as thou sayst, nowhere near, yet
she is indeed beautiful.' Then I went to see her again, and she was, by my
hfe, as yafsah had said. Yet was 1 jealous."^

The time was drawing near for the second encounter at Badr, in accord-
ance with Abu Sufyan's parting challenge after Uhud - a challenge which
the Prophet had accepted. But it was a year of drought, and Abu Sufyan
saw that there would be not a blade of greenery for their camels and horses
to eat on the way. All the fodder for the expedition would have to be
brought with them from Mecca, and their stores were already depleted.
But he shrank from the dishonour of breaking the tryst which he had
himself proposed. It was desirable that Muhammad should be the one to
break it, but reports had come from Yathrib that he was already making
preparations to set out. Could he be induced to change his mind? Abu
Sufyan went into consultation with Suhayl and one or two other leaders of
Quraysh, and they formed a plan. There happened to be in Mecca at that
time a friend of Suhayl's named Nu'aym, one of the leading men of the
Bani Ashja', a clan of Ghatafan. They felt they could trust him, and since
he was not of Quraysh he could pose as a neutral and objective onlooker.
They offered him twenty camels if he could induce the Muslims to
renounce their project of marching out to Badr. Nu*aym agreed and set out
at once for the oasis, where he drew an alarming picture of the forces which
Abu Sufyan was preparing to lead out to Badr. He spoke to all the different
sections of the community, Emigrants, Helpers, Jews and hypocrites, and
he would close his assessment of the danger with the urgent counsel:
"Therefore stay here and go not out against them. By God, 1 do not think a
single one of you will escape with his life." The Jews and the hypocrites
were glad at the news of Meccan preparations for war, and they helped to
spread the tidings throughout the city. Nor did Nu'aym fail to make an
impression on the Muslims themselves, many of whom were inclined to
think that it would indeed be niost unwise to go out to Badr. News of this
attitude reached the Prophet, and he began to fear that no one would go
out with him. But Abu Bakr and 'Umar urged him on no account to break
his tryst with Quraysh. "God will support His religion," they said "and He
will give strength to His Messenger." "I will go forth," said the Prophet,
"even if I go alone."

These few words cost Nu'aym his camels, making vain all his efforts just
when he was beginning to think that he had succeeded. But despite himself,
he was impressed by the total failure of his mission: some power was at
work in Medina which was altogether beyond his influence, and beyond
his experience, and the seeds of Islam were sown in his heart. The Prophet
set out as originally planned with fifteen hundred men on camels and ten
horsemen. Many of them took merchandise with them, intending to trade
at the fair of Badr.

' LS.VIH, 66.

2o8 Muhammad

Meantime Abu Sufyan had said to Quraysh: **Let us go out and spend
one night or two nights on the road, and then return. If Muljammad go not
out he will hear that we set forth and that we then returned because he
came not out to meet us. This will be counted against him and in our
favour." But as it happened, the Prophet and his Companions spent eight
days at the fair of Badr, and those who attended it reported the news far
and wide that Quraysh had broken their word but that Muhammad and
his followers had kept theirs and had come to fight Quraysh as they had
promised. When the news reached Mecca of the great moral yictoryjjf
their enemy and of their own moral defeat in the eyes of Arabia, Safwan
and others bitterly upbraided Abu Sufyan for ever having proposed the
second encounter at Badr. But this mortification none the less served to
intensify their preparations for the final and lasting revenge which they
were planning to inflict on the founder and followers of the new re-
ligion.

After his return from Badr the Prophet had a month of peace in Medina,
and then at the beginning of the fifth Islamic year, June 6z6, news came
that some clans of Ghatafan were again planning to raid the oasis. He set
out immediately into the plain of Najd with four hundred men, but the
enemy vanished as before when they were almost upon them. It was on this
expedition that when they were nearest to an encounter the Prophet
received the Revelation instructing him how to pray "the Prayer of Fear",
that is, how an army should abridge the ritual prayer and modify the
movements of it at times of danger, and how some should keep watch
while others pray.^

One of the Helpers who went out with this force was Jabir the son of
*Abd Allah. In after years he would tell of an incident which took place at
one of their encampments: "We were with the Prophet when a Companion
brought in a fledgling which he had caught, and one of the parent birds
came and threw itself into the hands of him who had taken its young. I saw
men*s faces full of wonderment, and the Prophet said: *Do ye wonder at
this bird? Ye have taken its young, and it hath thrown itself down in
merciful tenderness unto its young. Yet I swear by God, your Lord is more
merciful unto you than is this bird unto its fledgling.*^ And he told the man
to put back the young bird where he had found it,"

He also said: "God hath a hundred mercies, and one of them hath He
sent down amongst jinn and men and cattle and beasts of prey. Thereby
they are kind and merciful unto one another, and thereby the wild creature
inclineth in tenderness unto her offspring. And ninety-nine mercies hath
God reserved unto Himself, that therewith He may show mercy unto His
slaves on the day of the Resurrection."^

Jabir also recounted how on the way back to Medina most of the troops
went on ahead, while the Prophet and a few others were riding in the rear.
But Jabir*s camel was old and weak, and could not keep up with the main
force, so that it was not long before the Prophet overtook him and asked
him why he was so far behind. "O Messenger of God," he said, "this camel
of mine can go no faster." "Make him kneel," said the Prophet, making his
own camel kneel also. Then he said: "Give me that stick," which I did, and

' lV,ioi-i. ^ W.487. ' M.XLIX,4.

?eace and War zo9

he took it and gave him one or two prods with it. Then he told me to
mount, and we went on our way, and, by Him who sent the Messenger
with the truth, my camel outstripped his.

'*0n the way I conversed with the Messenger of God, and he said to me:
"Wilt thou sell me this camel of thine?" I said: "I will give him to thee."
"Nay," he said, "but sell him to me." Jabir knew from the tone of the
Prophet's voice that he was expected to bargain. "I asked him," said Jabir,
"to name me a price and he said: 'I will take him for a dirhem.' 'Not so/ I
said, 'for then wouldst thou be giving me too little.' 'For two dirhems,' he
said. 'Nay,' said I, and he went on raising his price until he reached forty
dirhems, that is, an ounce of gold, to which I agreed. Then he said: 'Art
thou yet married, Jabir?' And when I said that 1 was, he said: 'An already
married woman or a virgin?' 'One already married,' I said 'Why not a girl,'
he said, 'that thou mightst play with her and she with thee?' 'O Messenger
of God,' I said, 'my father was struck down on the day of Uhud and left me
with his seven daughters, so 1 married a motherly woman who would
gather them round her and comb their hair and look after their wants.' He
agreed that I had made a good choice; and then he said that when we
reached Sirar, which was only about three miles from Medina, he would
sacrifice camels and spend the day there, and she would have news of our
home-coming and would set about shaking the dust from her cushions.
'We have no cushions,' I said. 'They will come,' he said. 'So when thou
returnest, do what is to be done. '

"The morning after we returned, 1 took my camel and knelt him outside
the Prophet's door. The Prophet came out and told me to leave the camel
and pray two prayer cycles in the Mosque, which I did. Then he bade Bilal
weigh me out an ounce of gold, and he gave me a little more than what
tipped the scales. I took it and turned to go, but the Prophet called me back.
'Take thy camel,' he said, 'he is thine, and keep the price thou wast paid for
him.'"^

It was during these months, between one campaign and another, that
Salman the Persian came to the Prophet to seek his counsel and his help.
His master, a Jew of the Bani Qurayzah, kept him so hard at work on his
property to the south of Medina that he had never been able to have a close
contact with the Muslim community. It had been out of the question for
him to be at Badr or Uhud or to take part in any of the lesser forays which
the Prophet had led or sent out during the last four years. Was there no way
of escape from his present situation? He had asked his master what it
would cost to set him free, but the price was far beyond his means. He
would have to pay forty ounces of gold and plant three hundred date
palms. The Prophet told him to write his master an agreement to pay the
gold and plant the trees. Then he called on his Companions to help Salman
with the palms, which they did, one contributing thirty palm-shoots,
another twenty, and so on, until the full number had been reached. "Go dig
the holes for them, Salman," said the Prophet, "and tell me when thou hast
done, and mine is the hand that shall put them in." The Companions
helped Salman to prepare the ground, and the Prophet planted each of the
three hundred shoots, which all took root and thrived.

' 664.

zio Muhammad

As to the remainder of the price, a piece of gold the size of a hen*s egg had
been given to the Prophet from one of the mines, and he gave it to Salman,
telling him to buy himself free with it. "How far will this go towards what I
have to pay?" said Salman, thinking that the price had been greatly
underestimated. The Prophet took the gold from him and putting it in his
mouth he rolled his tongue round it. Then he gave it back to Salman,
saying: "Take it, and pay them the full price with it," Salman weighed out
to them forty ounces from it, and so he became a: free man.*

There was another month of peace in Medina, and then at the head of a
thousand men the Prophet made a rapid northward march of about five
hundred miles to the edge of Dumat al-Jandal, an oasis on the borders of
Syria, which had become infested with marauders, mostly from the Bani
Kalb. They had more than once plundered provisions of oil and flour and
other goods which were on their way to Medina. There was also reason to
suppose that they had entered into some agreement with Quraysh, which
meant that they would close in from the north when the day came for a
general onslaught upon Islam. The Prophet and his Companions had that
day continually in mind; and though the immediate result of the expedi-
tion was no more than the scattering of the marauders and the capture of
their flocks and herds which were grazing on the southern pastures of the
oasis, it had also the desired effect of impressing the northern tribes in
general with a sense of the presence of a new and rapidly increasing power
in Arabia. Gone were the years of civil discord which had made Yathrib so
vulnerable to outside attack. That discord had been replaced by a closely
united expansive strength which could strike far and wide with amazing
speed, and which was all the more to be feared because it knew that attack
was the surest means of defence.

Such was the outward impression; but for those who were capable of
approaching nearer the strength was seen to be even greater than it
appeared, for it was based on a unity that was itself a miracle. The
Revelation had told the Prophet: If thou hadst spent all that is in the earth,
thou couldst not have united their hearts. But God hath united their
hearts r The presence of the Prophet was none the less one of the great
means of realising this unitedness. Providentially, the attraction of that
presence had been made so powerful that no man of normal good will
could resist it. "Not one of you hath faith ^until I am dearer to him than his
son and his father and all men together."^ But this utterance of the Prophet
was not so much a demand as a confirmation of the rightness of a love that
had already been given - a love which found its expression so often in the
words: "May my father and my mother be thy ransom."

A time of peace was not a time of rest for the Prophet. He put forward as
an ideal that a third of each cycle of twenty-four hours should be for
worship, a third for work and a third for the family. This last third
included the time spent in sleep and at meals. As to worship, much of it was
done during the night. In addition to the evening and dawn prayers they
performed voluntary prayers after the same pattern. The Koran also

' I.L141-2. ' VIII, 63. ' M.I,i6.

Peace and War zii

enjoined long recitations of its own verses, and the Prophet recommended
various litanies of repentance and praise. Lengthy night worship had been
established as a norm by the first Revelations, but the community which
had received these had been a spiritual elea. Medina had also had its own
initial elect of believers. But the rapid spread of Islam within recent years
had made the elect something of a minority; and they are referred to as a
group of those that are with thee in a verse which was now revealed to
lessen the sense of obligation attached to long vigils: Verily thy Lord
knoweth that thou keepest vigil wellnigh two thirds of the night, and some
times half of it or a third of it, thou and a group of those that are with thee.
God measureth the night and the day. He knoweth that ye will not be able
to come up to the full measure of it, and therefore hath He relented unto
you. Recite then even so much of the Koran as is easy for you}

The elect of the Companions none the less continued to pray much at
night, of which the last third was mentioned by the Prophet as being
especially blessed; "Each night, when a third of it hath yet to come, our
Lord - blessed and exalted be He! - descendeth unto the nethermost
heaven, and He saith; 'Who calleth unto Me, that I may answer him? Who
prayeth unto Me a prayer, that I may grant him it? Who asketh My
forgiveness, that I may forgive him?' It was also revealed about this time,
in definition of the believers: They turn aside from their beds to invoke
their Lord in fear and in longing, and of what We have given them they
give. And no soul knoweth the hidden bliss that lieth in store for them as
meed for that which they were wont to do.^

The equal distribution of the hours of the daily cycle between the three
claims of worship, work and the family could only be approximate. As
regards family, the Prophet had no room of his own, and every evening he
would move to the apartment of the wife whose turn it was to give him a
home for the next twenty-four hours. During the day he had frequent visits
from his daughters and from his aunt Safiyyah, or he would visit them.
Fatimah would often bring her two sons to see him. Hasan was now nearly
a year and a half old, and the eight-month-old Husayn was already
beginning to walk. The Prophet also loved his little granddaughter Uma-
mah, who nearly always accompanied her mother Zaynab. Once or twice
he brought her with him to the Mosque perched on his shoulder and kept
her there while he recited the verses of the Koran, putting her down before
the inclination and prostrations and restoring her to his shoulder when he
resumed his upright position.'* Another loved one was the fifteen-year-old
Usamah, the son of Zayd and Umm Ayman, very dear to the Prophet for
the sake of both his parents and also for his own sake. As a grandson of the
house, he was often to be found inside it or about its doors.

Most afternoons the Prophet would visit Abu Bakr as he had done in
Mecca. To some extent the claims of family and of work coincided, for he
often wished to talk with Abu Bakr about affairs of state, as he likewise did
with Zayd and with his two sons-in-law 'All and 'Uthman. But work was
in danger of invading the Prophet's whole life, because no voice in all
Medina could compare with his for solving a problem or answering a

' LXXIII,2o. ^ B.XIX,iz. ' XXXII, 16-17. * I.S.VIII,26.

212 Muhammad

question or settling a dispute. Even those who did not believe him to be a
Prophet would seek his help if need be, unless they were too proud.
Quarrels between Muslims and Jews were not infrequent, and mis-
placed fervour was often to blame, as when, for example, one of the
Helpers struck a Jew merely on account of an oath which he heard him
utter. "Wilt thou swear," said the Muslim, " *by Him who chose Moses
above all mankind' when the Prophet is present in our midst?" The Jew
complained to the Prophet, whose face was full of anger when he rebuked
the aggressor. In the Koran itself God is mentioned as saying: O Moses, I
have chosen thee above all mankind by My messages and My speaking
unto thee} The Koran had also said: Verily God chose Adam and Noah
and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran above all the worlds,^
But divining what was in the man's mind, the Prophet added: "Say not
that I am better than Moses."^ He also said, perhaps referring to another
example of misplaced zeal: "Let none of you say that I am better than
Jonah."^ The Revelation had already given them the words, as part of the
Islamic creed: We make no distinction between any of His messengers^

In addition to what concerned the welfare of the community as a whole,
both in its inward harmony and in its relations with the rest of Arabia and
beyond, scarcely a day passed when his advice or help was not sought by
one or more of the believers in connection with some purely personal
problem, either material, as in the recent case of Salman, or spiritual, as
when on one occasion Abu Bakr brought to him a man of the Bani Tamlm,
Hanzalah by name, who had settled in Medina. Hanzalah had first
approached Abu Bakr with his problem, but Abu Bakr felt that in this case
the answer should come from the highest authority. The man's face was
full of woe, and when the Prophet questioned him he said: "Hanzalah is a
hypocrite, O Messenger of God." The Prophet asked him what he meant,
and he answered: "O Messenger of God, we are with thee, and thou tellest
us of the Fire and of Paradise until it is as if they were before our very eyes.
Then go we out from thy presence, and our minds are engrossed with our
wives and our children and our properties, and much do we forget." The
Prophet's answer made it clear that the ideal was to seek to perpetuate their
consciousness of spiritual realities without altering the tenor of their daily
lives: "By Him in whose hand is my soul," he said, "if ye were to remain
perpetually as ye are in my presence, or as ye are in your times of
remembrance of God, then would the Angels come to take you by the hand
as ye lie in your beds or as ye go your ways. But yet, O Hanzalah, now this
and now that, now this and now that, now this and now that!"*

Such demands as these upon the Prophet's time were not to be avoided;
but there was a growing need that he should be protected in other ways,
and the protection that now came was not unconnected with the following
altogether unexpected event which served to emphasise his uniquely
privileged position. It happened one day that he wanted to speak to Zayd
about something and went to his house. Zaynab opened the door, and as
she stood in the doorway telling him that Zayd was out but inviting him

' VII, 144. ' 111,33. ' B.LXV, Surah VII.

* B.LXV, Surah XXXVII. ^ Sec p. 101 * M.XLIX,z.

Peace and War Z13

none the less to enter, a look passed between the two cousins which made
each one conscious of a deep and lasting bond of love between them. In a
moment the Prophet knew that Zaynab loved him and that he loved her
and that she knew he loved her. But what could this mean? Surprised at the
strength of his feeling, he refused her invitation, and as he turned to go she
heard him say: "Glory be to God the Infinite! Glory be to Him who
disposeth men's hearts!" When Zayd returned she told him of the
Prophet's visit and of the glorification she had heard him utter, Zayd
immediately went to him and said: "I have been told thou earnest unto my
house. Why didst not enter, thou who art more to me than my father and
my mother? Was it that Zaynab hath found favour with thee? If it be so, I
will leave her." "Keep thy wife and fear God," said the Prophet with some
insistence. He had said on another occasion: "Of all things licit the most
hateful unto God is divorce."^ And when Zayd came again the next day
with the same proposal, again the Prophet insisted that he should keep his
wife. But the marriage between Zayd and Zaynab had not been a happy
one, and Zayd found it no longer tolerable, so by mutual agreement with
Zaynab he divorced her. This did not, however, make Zaynab eligible as a
wife for the Prophet for although the Koran had only specified that men
were forbidden to marry the wives of sons sprung from their loins^ it was a
strong social principle not to make a distinction between sons by birth and
sons by adoption. Nor was the Prophet himself eligible, for he had already
four wives, the most that the Islamic law allows.

Some months passed and then one day when the Prophet was talking
with one of his wives the power of the Revelation overwhelmed him; and
when he came to himself his first words were: "Who will go unto Zaynab
and tell her the good tidings that God hath given her to me in marriage,
even from Heaven?" Salma was near at hand - Safiyyah's servant who had
long considered herself a member of the Prophet's household - and she
went in haste to Zaynab's house. When she heard the wonderful tidings,
Zaynab magnified God and threw herself down in prostration towards
Mecca, Then she took off her anklets and bracelets of silver, and gave them
to Salma.

Zaynab was no longer young, being almost in her fortieth year, but she
had retained her remarkable beauty. She was, moreover, a woman of great
piety, who fasted much and kept long vigils and gave generously to the
poor. As a skilled worker in leather she could make shoes and other
objects, and all that she earned in this way was for her a means of charity.
There could be no question in her case of any formal wedding, for the
marriage was announced in the revealed verses as a bond already con-
tracted: We have married her to thee^ It remained for the bride to be
brought to the bridegroom, and this was done without delay.

The verses also said that in future adopted sons should be named after
their fathers who begot them; and from that day Zayd was known as Zayd
ibn Harithah instead of Zayd ibn Muhammad, as he had been called ever
since his adoption some thirty-five years previously. But this change did
not annul his adoption as such, nor did it affect in any way the love and the

1 A.D.Xni,3.

^ XXXIII, 40.

214 Muhammad

intimaqr between the adopter and the adopted, who were now nearing
their sixtieth and fiftieth years. It was merely a reminder that there was no
blood relationship; and in this sense the Revelation continued: Mu-
hammad is not the father of any man amongst you, but he is the Messenger
of God and the Seal of the Prophets,^

At the same time other Revelations stressed the great difference between
the Prophet and his followers. They were not to address him ever by his
name as they addressed each other. The permission which God had given
him, in virtue of his new marriage, to have more than four wives, was for
him alone, and not for the rest of the community. Moreover, his wives
were given the title of the mothers of the faithful, and their status was such
that it would be an enormity in the eyes of God if, having been married to
the Prophet, they should ever be given in marriage to another man. If the
believers wished to ask a favour of one of them - for their intercession with
the Prophet was often sought ~ they must do so from behind a curtain.
They were also told: O ye who have faith, enter not the dwellings of the
Prophet unto a meal without waiting for its time to come, except if leave be
given you. But if ye are invited then enter, and when ye have fed then
disperse. Linger not in hope of discourse. Verily that would be irksome
unto the Prophet, and he wouldshrink from tellingyou, but Godshrinketh
not from the truth. ^

Such precepts were necessary on account of the great love they bore him,
and their desire to be in his presence as long and as often as possible. Those
who were with him were always loath to leave him. Nor could they have
been blamed if they stayed, for when he spoke to anyone he would turn to
him so fully and make him so amply the object of his attention that the man
might well imagine himself to be privileged enough for liberties which
others dared not take; and when he took a man's hand he was never the
first to relinquish his hold. But while protecting the Prophet, the Revela-
tion introduced at this time a new clement into the liturgy, which made it
possible for his people to give expression to their love and to benefit from
his spiritual radiance without imposing unduly their presences upon him:
Verily God and His angels whelm in blessings the prophet. O ye who
believe, invoke blessings upon him and give him greetings of Peace. ^ And
shortly afterwards the Prophet told one of his Companions: "An Angel
came unto me and said: 'None invoketh blessings upon thee once, but God
invoketh blessings upon him tenfold.'

' XXXIII, 37. i XXXU1,53. ' XXXIII, 56. ^ D.XX,58.

LIX

The Trench

THE exiled Jews of Bani Nadir who had settled in Khaybar were
determined to recover the land they had lost. Their hopes were
centred on the preparations of Quraysh for a final attack on the
Prophet; and towards the end of the fifth year of Islam - it was about the
New Year of ad 627 - these preparations were brought to a head by a
secret visit to Mecca of Huyay and other Jewish leaders from Khaybar.
"We are one with you," they said to Abu Sufyan, "that we may extirpate
Muhammad." "The dearest of men to us", he replied, "are those who help
us against Muhammad." So he and Safwan and other chiefs of Quraysh
took the Jews inside the Ka*bah, and together they swore a solemn oath to
God that they would not fail one another until they had achieved their end
and aim. Then it occurred to Quraysh that they should take this opportun-
ity of asking the opinion of the Jews about the rights of their conflict with
the founder of the new religion. "Men of the Jews," said Abu Sufyan, "ye
are the people of the first scripture, and ye have knowledge. Tell us how we
stand with regard unto Muhammad. Is our religion the better or his?"
They answered: "Your religion is better than his, and ye are nearer the
truth than he is."

On this harmonious basis the two allies laid their plans. The Jews
undertook to rouse up all the nomads in the plain of Najd who had
grievances against Medina; and where desire for revenge was not sufficient
the matter was to be clinched by bribery. The Bant Asad readily agreed to
help them; as to the Bani Ghatafan, they were promised half die date
harvest of Khaybar if they would join the confederacy, and their agreement
to do so increased the army by nearly two thousand men, from the
Ghatafanite clans of Fazarah, Murrah and Ashja'. The Jews also succeeded
in securing a contingent from the Bani Sulaym seven hundred strong,
which would no doubt have been larger but for the fact that ever since the
massacre at the well of Ma'unah a small but increasing party within this
tribe had been favourable to Islam. As to the southerly neighbour of
Sulaym, the Bani 'Amir, they remained altogether faithful to their pact
with the Prophet.

Quraysh themselves and their closest allies were four thousand strong.
Together with one or two other contingents from the south, they were to
march out from Mecca along the west coastal route to Medina, the same
route which they had taken to Uhud. The second army, which was
considerably less of a unity, was to close in on Medina from the east, that
is, from the plain of Najd. Together the two armies were estimated at a

21 6 Muhammad

total of more than three times the strength of Quraysh at Uhud. There the
Muslims had been defeated by a force of three thousand. What could they
now hope to do against ten thousand? Moreover, instead of a troop of only
two hundred horse, Quraysh had this time three hundred and could rely on
Ghatafan for another troop of the same strength.

They marched forth from Mecca-according to plan; and about the same
time, possibly with the connivance of *Abbas, a number of horsemen from
the Bani Khuza^ah set out with all speed for Medina to warn the Prophet of
the impending attack and to give him details of its strength. They reached
him in four days, thus giving him only a week to make preparations. He
at once alerted the whole oasis and spoke words of encouragement to his
followers, promising them the victory if only they would have patience and
fear God and obey orders. Then, as he had done at Uhud, he summoned
them to a consultation at which many opinions were expressed as to what
would be the best plan of action; but finally Salman rose to his feet and
said: "O Messenger of God, in Persia when we feared an attack of horse,
we would surround ourselves with a trench, so let us dig a trench about us
now." Everyone agreed to this plan with enthusiasm, the more so as they
were averse to repeating the strategy of Uhud.

Time was short and all efforts would have to be strained to the utmost if
no dangerous gap was to be left in the defences. But the trench did not need
to be continuous; at many places a long stretch of fortress-like houses at
the edge of the city was adequate protection; and to the north-west there
were some masses of rock which in themselves were impregnable and
merely needed to be connected to each other. The nearest of these, known
as Mount Sal', was to be brought within the entrenchments, for the ground
in front of it was an excellent site for the camp. The trench itself would
bound the camp to the north in a wide sweep from one of the rocky
eminences to a point on the eastern wall of the town. This was to be the
longest single stretch of trench and also the most important.

As well as being the originator of the strategy, Salman knew exactly how
wide and how deep the trench would have to be; and having worked with
the Bani Qurayzah, he knew that they possessed all the implements that
were needed. Nor were they averse to lending them in the face of the
common danger;, for although they had no love for the Prophet the
majority of opinion amongst them had been that their pact with him was a
political advantage, not to be thrown away. So mattocks, pickaxes and
shovels were borrowed from them. They also supplied date-baskets which
were strongly woven of palm-fibre and could thus be used for carrying the
excavated earth.

The Prophet made each section of his community responsible for a part
of the trench and he himself worked with them. They went out at dawn
every day immediately after the prayers, and came home at twilight. As he
led diem out one of the first mornings he chanted a reminder of their work
at building the Mosque:

"O God, no good is but the good hereafter.
Forgive the Helpers and the Emigrants!"

The Trench 217

It was immediately taken up by them all; and sometimes they chanted:

"O God, no life is but the life hereafter.

Have merq^ on the Helpers and the Emigrants !"

They continually reminded each other that the time was short. The
enemy would soon be upon them, and if any man showed signs of flagging
he was at once an object of mockery. Salman, on the other hand, was an
object of admiration, for he was not only very strong and able-bodied but
for years he had been used to digging and carrying for the Bani Qurayzah.
"He doth the work of ten men," they said, and a friendly rivalry started up
between them. "Salman is ours," the Emigrants claimed, in virtue of his
having left many homes in search of guidance. "He is one of us," the
Helpers retorted; "we have more right to him." But the Prophet said:
"Salman is one of us, the people of the House."^

Excavated rocks and stones that might serve as missiles were piled up
along the Medina side of the trench; the earth they carried away in baskets
on their heads, and having dumped it they filled the baskets with stones
which they brought back to the trench. The best stones were to be found at
the foot of Mount Sal'. The men were all stripped to the waist, and those
who could not lay hands on baskets knotted into sacks the outer garments
they had doffed and used them to shift the earth and also the stones. On the
first morning they had been followed out to the camp by a number of boys,
all eager to take part in the work. The youngest had been sent home
forthwith, but the Prophet allowed many of the others to dig and carry on
the understanding that they would have to leave the camp as soon as the
enemy appeared. As to those who had been sent home from Uhud, Usamah
and 'Omar's son * Abd Allah and their friends, they were now fifteen years
old, and they and others of their age were allowed to join the ranks of the
men not only for the work but also for the batde when it came. One of
them, Bara' of the Harithah clan of Aws, would tell in after years of the
great beauty of the Prophet as he remembered him at the trench, girt with a
red cloak, his breast sprinkled with dust and his black hair long enough to
touch his shoulders. "More beautiful than him I have not seen," he would
say. Nor was he alone conscious of this beauty, and of the general beauty
of the scene. In particular the Prophet himself, as he looked about him,
rejoiced at their simplicity and their nearness to nature - the nearness to
man*s primordial heritage - and he started a song in which everyone
joined:

"This beauty not the beauty is of Khaybar.
More innocent it is, O Lord, and purer." ^

He worked now with the Emigrants, and now with the Helpers,
sometimes with a pickaxe, sometimes with a shovel and sometimes as a
carrier. But wherever he might be, it was understood that he must be
informed of any unusual difficulty. Despite the hardness of the work there

The Prophet's family. 2 w. 446.

21 8 Muhammad

were moments of merriment. A convert from the Bani Damrah, one of the
People of the Bench who lived in the Mosque, was a man of considerable
piety but in looks he was not well favoured and his parents had moreover
given him the name Ju'ayl, which has the secondary meaning of "httle
beetle". The Prophet had recently changed this to the fine name of *Amr,
which means life, spiritual well-being, religion. The sight of the Damrite
digging at the trench prompted one of the Emigrants to a couplet:

"His name he changed, Ju*ayl to 'Amr,
Gave the poor man that day his help."

He repeated this to * Amr, and those who overheard it took it up and made
a song of it, not without laughter. The Prophet joined in this only at the
words 'Amr" and "help", which he pronounced each time with consider-
able emphasis. Then he led them into another song:

"Lord but for Thee we never had been guided,

Never had given alms nor prayed Thy prayer.

Send then serenity upon us,

Make firm our feet for the encounter.

These foes oppressed us, sought to pervert us,

But we refused."'

The first cry for help came from Jabir, who had dug down to a rock
which none of their implements could loosen. The Prophet called for some
water and spat into it; then having prayed, he sprinkled the water over the
rock, and they were able to shovel it out like a heap of sand.^ Another day it
was the Emigrants who needed help. After many vain attempts to split or
dislodge a rock he had struck, *Umar went to the Prophet, who took the
pickaxe from him and gave the rock a blow at which a flare as of lightning
flashed back over the city and towards the south. He gave it another blow
and again there was a flash but in the direction of Uhud and beyond it
towards the north. A third blow split the rock into fragments, and this time
the light flashed eastwards. Salman saw the three flashes and knew they
must have some significance, so he asked for an interpretation from the
Prophet, who said: **Didst thou see them, Salman? By the Hght of the first I
saw the castles of the Yemen; by the light of the second I saw the castles of
Syria; by the light of the third I saw the white palace of Kisra' at Mada*in.
Through the first hath God opened unto me the Yemen; through the
second hath He opened unto me Syria and the West; and through the third
the East."-*

Most of the diggers at the trench had not normally enough to eat, and
the hard work increased the pangs of hunger. In particular, Jabir had been
struck by the Prophet's exceeding leanness the day he had needed his help
at the trench, and that evening he asked his wife if she could not cook him a
meal. "We have naught but this ewe," she said "and a measure of barley."
So he sacrificed the ewe, and the next day she roasted it and ground the

■ W. 448-9; l.S. 11/1,51. ' U671.
^ Chrosroes, King of Persia. * W, 450.

The Trench 219

barley and made some bread. Then, when it was too dark to continue
working, Jabir went to the Prophet as he was leaving the trench and invited
him to the meal of mutton and barley bread. "The Prophet put his palm
against mine'*, said Jabir, "and knotted his fingers through my fingers. I
wanted him to come alone, but he told a crier to call out: *Go with the
Messenger of God unto the house of Jabir. Respond, for Jabir inviteth
you.' " Jabir uttered the verse which the faithful are recommended to utter
at a moment of disaster: Verily we are for God, and verily unto Him are we
returning^ and he went on ahead to warn his wife. "Didst thou invite them
or did he?" she said. "Nay, he invited them," said Jabir. "Then let them
come," she said, "for he knoweth best." The meal was placed in front of
the Prophet and he blessed it and uttered the Name of God over it and
began to eat. There were ten sitting down with him, and when they had all
eaten their fill they rose and went to their homes, making room for ten
more, and so it went on until all the workers at the trench had satisfied their
hunger, and there still remained some mutton and some bread.'

On another day the Prophet saw a girl enter the camp with something in
her hand, and he called her to him. It was the niece of *Abd Allah ibn
Rawahah. In her own words: "When I told the Messenger of God that I
was taking some dates to my father and mine unde, he bade me give them
to him. So I poured them into his hands, but they did not fill them. He
called for a garment, which was spread out for him, and he threw the dates
upon it in such wise that they were scattered over its surface. Then he bade
those who were with him invite the diggers to lunch, and when they came
they began to eat, and the dates increased and they were still overflowing
from the edges of the garment when the men turned away from them."^

The Siege

SCARCELY had the trench been finished - it took them six days in all
-when news came that the army of Quraysh were approaching down
the valley of ' Aqiq and were now a little to the south-west of the town,
while Ghatafan and the other tribes of Najd were moving towards Uhud
from the east. All the outlying houses of the oasis had already been
evacuated and their tenants housed within the defences. The Prophet now
gave orders for every woman and child to be allocated a place in one or
other of the upper rooms of the fortresses. Then he encamped with his
men, about three thousand in all, on the chosen site. His tent of red leather
was pitched at the foot of Mount Sal'. *A*ishah, Umm Salamah and
Zaynab took turns to be with him there.

The Meccan army and their allies pitched separate camps not far from
Uhud. Quraysh were dismayed to find that the crops of the oasis had
already been harvested. Their camels would have to subsist on the acacias
of the valley of *Aqiq. Meantime the camels of Ghatafan were living on the
two kinds of tamarisk which grow in the thicketed parts of the plain near
Uhud. But there was nothing for the horses of either army except the
fodder they had brought with them. It was therefore imperative to make an
end of the enemy as quickly as possible, and with this intention the two
armies joined together and advanced in the direction of the city. Abu
Sufyan was commander-in-chief, but by turns each of the various leaders
was to have his day of honour in which he would direct the actual fighting.
Khalid and *Ikrimah were again in command of the Meccan cavalry, and
*Amr was in Khalid's troop. As they approached they were heartened to see
the enemy camp in front of them outside the town. They had been afraid
that they would find them garrisoned behind their batriements; but out in
the open they should be able to overwhelm them by sheer weight of
numbers. When they drew nearer, however, they were amazed to see that a
broad trench lay between them and the archers who were lined the whole
way along it on its further side. Their horse would only be able to reach it
with difficulty, and then would come the greater difficulty of crossing it.
Even now a shower of arrows told them that they were already within
range of the enemy, so they drew back to a safer distance.

The rest of the day was spent in consultation and finally they decided
that their best hope lay in the possibility of forcing the enemy to withdraw
their troops in large numbers from the north of the town in order to defend
it elsewhere. If the trench were sufficiently unmanned, it should not be too
difficult to cross it. Their thoughts turned towards the Bani Qurayzah,

The Siege zzi

whose fortresses blocked the approach to Medina from the south-east.
According to agreement, Huyay of the Bani Nadir had come from
Khaybar to join the army, and he now pressed his services on Abu Sufyan
as ambassador to his fellow Jews, assuring him that he could easily
persuade them to break their pact with Muhammad; and once their help
had been secured the town could be attacked from two directions simul-
taneously. Abu Sufyan gladly accepted his offer, and urged him to lose no
time.

The Bani Qurayzah were afraid of Huyay; they looked on him as a
bearer of bad fortune, an inauspicious man who had brought disaster upon
his own people, and who would do the same for them if they let him have
his way. They feared him all the more because he had an overwhelming
power of soul that was difficult to counter. If he wanted something, he
would wear down all opposition and neither rest himself nor let others rest
until he had gained his end. He now went to the fortress of Ka'b ibn Asad,
the chief of Qurayzah - it was he who had made their pact with the
Prophet - and knocked on the gate, announcing who he was. Ka'b at first
refused to unbolt it. ^'Confound thee, Ka'b," said Huyay, **let me in."
"Confound thee, Huyay," said Ka*b, knowing well what he wanted. "I
have made a pact with Muljammad, and I will not break what is between
me and him." "Let me in," said Huyay, "and let us talk." "I will not," said
Ka'b; but finally Huyay accused him of not letting him in simply because
he grudged sharing his food with him, and this so angered Ka*b that he
opened the gate. "Confound thee, Ka*b," he said, "I have brought thee
lasting glory for all time and power like that of a raging sea. I have brought
thee Quraysh and Kinanah and Ghatafan with their leaders and chiefs, a
full ten thousand of them, with their horse a thousand strong. They have
sworn to me that they will not rest until they have rooted out Muhammad
and those with him. This time Muhammad shall not escape." "By God,"
said Ka*b, "thou hast brought me shame for all time — a cloud without
water, all thunder and lightning, and naught else in it. Confound thee,
Huyay. Leave me and let me be as I am." Huyay saw that he was
weakening, and his eloquent tongue enlarged on the great advantages that
would come to them all if the new religion were blotted out. Finally, he
swore by God the most solemn oath: "If Quraysh and Ghatafan return to
their territories and have not smitten down Muhammad, I will enter with
thee into thy fortress, and my fate shall be as thine." This convinced Ka*b
that there could be no possibility of survival for Islam, and he agreed to
renounce the pact between his people and the Prophet. Huyay asked to see
the document, and when he had read it he tore it in two. Ka*b now went to
tell his fellow tribesmen what had passed between them. "What advantage
is it," they said, "if thou art slain, that Huyay should be slain with thee?"
and at first he met with considerable opposition. It was amongst the Bani
Qurayzah that Ibn al-Hayyaban had come to live, the old Jew from Syria
who had hoped to meet the coming Prophet and who had described him
and insisted that his advent was at hand, and many of them felt that
Muhammad must indeed be the man, though few of these were capable of
being interested in a Prophet who was not a Jew, and still fewer were
capable of drawing any practical conclusions about the gravity of oppos-

22,2 Muhammad

ing a Prophet, be he Jew or Gentile. As for the majority, they were simply
averse to breaking a political pact; but when some of the hypocrites
brought news which confirmed what Huyay had said, and when some of
their own men went singly and unobtrusively to see for themselves, the
general opinion began to swing in favour of Quraysh and their allies. It was
indeed a formidable sight, looking across the trench from the Medina side,
to see the plain beyond it surging with men and horses as far and wide as
the eye could reach.

Meantime Khalid and Ikrimah were examining the trench, albeit from a
distance, to see where it might most easily be crossed. "This piece of
trickery!" they exclaimed in exasperation. "Never have Arabs resorted to
such a device. There must surely be with him a man of Persia." To their
disappointment they saw that the work had been all too well done, except
for a short section which was slightly narrower than the rest, and this was
closely guarded. One or two attempts to storm it were a total failure. Their
horses had never seen anything like the trench and manifested a strong
aversion for it. This might change, but for the moment the fighting could be
no more than an interchange of archery.

The Bani Qurayzah's renunciation of their pact did not remain hidden.
Many of the hypocrites were undetermined as to which side they belonged
to, and they were ready to betray the secrets of either side to the other.
'Umar was the first of the Companions to hear that the Jews were now a
potential enemy. He went to the Prophet, who was sitting in his tent with
Abu Bakr. "O Messenger of God," he said, "I have been told that Bani
Qurayzah have broken their treaty and are at war with us." The Prophet
was visibly troubled; and he sent Zubayr to find out the truth of the matter.
Then, lest the Helpers should feel themselves to have been excluded, he
called the two Sa'ds of Aws and Khazraj to him together with Usayd, and
having told them the news he said: "Go and see if it be true. If it be false,
then say so plainly. But if it be true, then tell me in some subtle way that I
shall understand." They reached the fortresses of Qurayzah soon after
Zubayr and found that they had indeed renounced the pact. They adjured
them by God to revert to it again before it was too late, but they only
answered: "Who is the Messenger of God? There is no pact between us and
Muhammad nor any agreement." In vain they reminded them of the fates
of the Bani Qaynuqac and the Bani Nadir. Ka*b and the others were now
too confident of the victory of Quraysh to listen to them; and when they
saw that they were wasting their words they returned to the Prophet.
" * Adal and Qarah," they said to him, these being the two tribes who had
betrayed Khubayb and his companions to the men of Hudhayl. The
Prophet understood and magnified God: ''Alldhu Akhar! Be of good cheer,
O Muslims."

It was now necessary to reduce the strength of the forces at the trench
and to keep a garrison within the town itself, so the Prophet sent back a
hundred men. Then the warning came to him that Huyay was urging
Quraysh and Ghatafan to send by night each a thousand men to the
fortresses of Qurayzah and from there to raid the centre of the town and
break into the fortresses of the Muslims and carry off their women and
children. The appointed night, for various reasons, was put off more than

The Siege 223

once, and theproject was never realised; but as soon as the Prophet heard
of it he sent Zayd with a troop of three hundred horse to patrol the streets,
magnifying God throughout each night, and it was as if the city was filled
with a mighty host.

The horses were not needed at the camp, but the troops were sorely
missed, for the trench had to be manned day and night, so that each man
now kept watch for longer hours. The days passed and the strain was very
great, with Khalid and *Ikrimah and their men ever seeking to take
advantage of a moment of slackness. But only once did they succeed in
crossing the trench, and that was when 'Ikrimah suddenly noticed that the
narrowest section happened for the moment to be badly guarded. He
succeeded in making his horse leap the gap, and he was followed by three
others. But by the time the fourth man had crossed, 'All and those with him
had remanned the narrow sector and made it once more impregnable,
thereby also cutting off the retreat of the horsemen who were now on their
side. One of these, 'Amr, shouted a challenge to single combat. When *Ali
offered himself he refused, saying: "I hate to kill the like of thee. Thy father
was a boon companion of mine. Therefore go back, thou art but a
stripling." But *Ali insisted, so *Amr dismounted and both men advanced.
A cloud of dust soon hid them from view; then they heard *Airs voice
raised in magnification and they knew that *Amr was dead or dying.
Meantime *Ikrimah and his fellows took advantage of the distraction to
regain the other side, but Nawfal of Makhzum failed to clear the gap and
his horse fell with him into the trench. They began to stone him but he
called out: "O Arabs, death is better than this," so they went down and
dispatched him.

The crossing of the trench, although abortive, had shown that it was a
possibility; and the next day attacks had been made at various points even
before sunrise. The Prophet exhorted the believers and promised them the
victory if they were steadfast, and steadfast they remained, despite their
initial weariness from the strain of overlong watches. The site of the camp
had been well chosen, for the slope of the ground away from Mount Sal*
meant that the near bank was considerably higher than the far bank. Again
and again throughout the day the enemy tried to force their way across, but
they could achieve nothing, and the actual fighting was limited, as on
previous days, to a discharge of archery. Nor was anyone killed on either
side, but Sa*d ibn Mu*adh was struck in the arm by an arrow which severed
a vein, and many of the horses of Quraysh and Ghataf an were wounded.

The time for the noon prayer came, but there was no question of any
man relaxing his vigilance for a moment. When the time was running out,
those who were nearest the Prophet called to him: "O Messenger of God,
we have not prayed" - an obvious fact but greatly disturbing because such
a thing had never happened before since the outset of Islam. His rejoinder
reassured them somewhat: "Nor I, by God, I have not prayed." The time
for the mid-afternoon prayer came, and went with the setting of the sun.
But even so the enemy kept up their attacks, and it was only when the last
light had faded from the west that they moved back to their two camps. As
soon as they were out of sight the Prophet withdrew from the trench,
leaving Usayd to continue on guard with a detachment of men, while he

2Z4 Muhammad

himself led the remainder in the four prayers which were now incumbent.
Khalid suddenly reappeared later that evening with a body of horse in the
hope that he would find the trench unguarded, but Usayd and his archers
kept them at bay.

The Revelation referred to the strain of those days as the time when eyes
could no longer look with steadiness, and when men's hearts rose up into
their throats, and ye were thinking strange thoughts about God, There the
believers were tested and tried, and their souls were quaked with a mighty
quaking.^

The question arose in every mind as to how many more such days could
be endured. Food was beginning to run short and the nights were
exceptionally cold; and many of the weak in faith, unnerved by hunger and
cold and lack of sleep, were almost ready to join the hypocrites, who were
passing round the word that it was not possible to continue to resist such
an enemy with only a trench between them, and that they should withdraw
behind the city walls. But the faith of the true believers was confirmed by
the hardship, and they received praise from the Revelation for having said,
at the times of greatest stress, when they saw the clans massed together
against them: This is that which God and His Messenger did promise us.
That which God and His Messenger foretold hath truly come to pass. The
Revelation added: And it did but increase them in faith and in submissions
They had spoken thus in recolleaion of a verse that had been revealed to
the Prophet two or three years previously: Think ye to enter Paradise,
while yet there hath not come unto you the like of what came unto those
who passed away before youf Affliction smote them and injuries and they
were made to quake until the Messenger of God said, and with him those
who believed: When cometh the help ofGodf Lo, verily the help of God is
nigh,'

The Prophet knew that in many souls amongst his people the powers of
endurance were nearing their end. But he knew also that as each day passed
the enemy likewise felt the grip of hardship tighten upon them. So he found
a way of sending word by night to two of the chiefs of Ghatafan, offering
them a third of the date harvest of Medina if they would withdraw from
the field. They sent back word: "Give us half the dates of Medina." But he
refused to increase his offer of a third, and they agreed to this, whereupon
he sent for 'Uthman and told him to draw up a peace treaty between the
believers and the clans of Ghatafan. Then he sent for the two Sa'ds and
they came to his tent - the chief of Aws with his wounded arm bound up -
and he told them of his plan. They said: "O Messenger of God, is this
something which thou wouldst have us do, or which God hath command-
ed and must be done? Or is it something which thou doest for our sakes?"
He answered them: "It is something which I do for your sakes, and by God
I would not do it but that I see the Arabs have shot at you from one bow
and assailed you from every side, and I would break some of the sharpness
of their assault against you." But the wounded Sa*d said to him: "O
Messenger of God, we and these folk were believers in gods together with
God, worshippers of idols, not truly worshipping God nor knowing Him.

' XXXIIlio-ii. ' XXXIII, 2Z. 5 II,zi4.

The Siege 225

They then had no hope to eat one date of ours, save as guests or by barter.
And now that God hath endowed us with Islam and guided us and
strengthened us with thee and with it, shall we give them our goods? By
God, we will give them naught but the sword, until He decide between us."
"Be it as thou wilt," said the Prophet, and Sa*d took the pen and the vellum
from *Uthman and struck through what had been written, saying: "Let
them do their worst!'"

These negotiations which now came to nothing had been with the chiefs
of the two clans of Fazarah and Murrah. The third Ghatafanite ally of
Quraysh was the clan of Ashja* to which Nu*aym belonged, the man whom
Abii Sufyan and Suhayl had bribed to intimidate, if he could, the Muslims
from keeping their promise to meet the Meccans at the second Badr. His
stay in Medina had profoundly affected him, and it was therefore with
mixed feelings that he had now come out with the rest of his clan to
support the Meccans on this occasion. His admiration for the men of the
new religion had been confirmed and increased by their resistance to an
army more than three times their strength. Then came the hour when, as he
himself said, ''God cast Islam into my heart"; and that night - it was
almost immediately after the projea of a separate truce with Ghatafan had
been abandoned - he made his way into the city and thence to the camp,
where he asked to see the Prophet. "What hath brought thee here,
Nu'aym?" he said. ''I have come," he answered, ''to declare my belief in
thy word and testify that thou hast brought the truth. So bid me do what
thou wilt, O Messenger of God, for thou hast but to command me, and I
will fulfil thy behest. My people and others know naught of my Islam."
"To the utmost of thy power," replied the Prophet, "set them at odds with
each other." Nu*aym asked permission to lie and the Prophet said. "Say
what thou wilt to draw them off from us, for war is deception."^

Nu'aym went back through the town and made his way to the Bani
Qurayzah, who welcomed him as an old friend and offered him food and
drink. "I came not for this," he said, "but to warn you of my fears for your
safety and to give you my counsel." Then he proceeded to point out to
them that if Quraysh and Ghatafan failed to inflict a decisive defeat on
their enemy they would return home and leave the Jews at the mercy of
Muhammad and his followers. Therefore they should refuse to strike one
blow for Quraysh until they had been given leading men as hostages, in
guarantee that they would not withdraw until the enemy had been
overwhelmed. His advice was accepted with enthusiasm by the Bani
Quray:5ah, who had been increasingly beset by the very fears he had
touched on. So they agreed to do what he had said, and promised not to tell
his own people or Quraysh that it was he who had given them this counsel.

Then he went to his one-time friend Abu Sufyan and told him and the
other chiefs of Quraysh who were with him that he had a very serious piece
of information to impart, on the condition, which they agreed to, that they
would swear to tell no one that he was their informer. "The Jews regret
their treatment of Muhammad," he said, "and they have sent to him
saying: *We regret what we have done, and will it satisfy thee if we take as

U.676. ^ U.^SijW. 480-1.

226 Muhammad

hostages some of the leading men of Quraysh and Ghatafan and give them
to thee that thou mayst cut off their heads? Then will we fight with thee
against those that be left.* Muhammad hath sent them his agreement; so if
the Jews ask you for some of your men as hostages, give them not one man
of yours." Then he went to his own people and the other clans of Ghatafan
and told them the same as he had told Quraysh.

After consultation, the leaders of the two invading armies decided to say
nothing for the moment to Huyay, but to put to the test what Nu'aym had
said. So they sent ikrimah to the Bani Qurayzah with the message: "Make
ye ready to fight on the morrow, that once and for all we may rid ourselves
of Muhammad." They answered: "Tomorrow is the Sabbath; nor in any
case will we fight with you against Muhammad unless ye give us hostages
who shall be for us as a security until we have made an end of him. For we
fear that if the battle go against you ye will withdraw to your own country,
leaving us with that man in ours, and we cannot face him alone." When
this message reached Quraysh and Ghatafan they said: "By God, what
Nu*aym told us is indeed the truth." And they sent again to Bani Qurayzah
saying that they would not give them a single man, but bidding them fight
none the less, which drew from them the answer that they would not strike
one blow until they had received hostages,

Abu Sufyan now went to Huyay and said: "Where is the help thou didst
promise us from thy people? They have deserted us, and now they seek to
betray us." "By the Torah, nay!" said Huyay. "The Sabbath is here, and
we cannot break the Sabbath. But on Sunday they will fight against
Muhammad and his companions like blazing fire." It was only then that
Abu Sufyan told him about the demand for hostages. Huyay was visibly
taken aback, and interpreting his disconcertedness as a sign of guilt, Abu
Sufyan said: "I swear by al-Lat that this is naught but your treachery,
theirs and thine, for I account thee as having entered into the treachery of
thy people." "Nay," he protested, "by the Torah that was revealed unto
Moses on the day of Mount Sinai, I am no traitor." But Abu Sufyan was
unconvinced, and fearing for his life, Huyay left the camp and made his
way to the fortresses of the Bani Qurayzah.

As to the relations between Quraysh and the tribes of Najd, there was
little need for any action on the part of Nu'aym. Nearly two weeks had
passed and nothing had been achieved. The provisions of both their armies
were running out, while more and more of their horses were dying every
day, of hunger or of arrow wounds or of both. Some camels had also died.
Nor could Quraysh fail to perceive that Ghatafan and the other Bedouin
were at the best reluctant allies. They had taken part in the campaign far
more in hopes of plunder than out of hostility to the new religion; and
those hopes by which they had been lured to the Yathrib oasis had proved
totally vain. Recriminations were on many tongues, and mutual distrust
spread throughout the two invading armies. The expedition had virtually
failed; and now the final seal of failure was placed upon it by Heaven.

For three days, after the ritual prayer, the Prophet had uttered the
supplication: "O God, Revealer of the Book, Swift Caller to account, turn
the confederates to flight, turn them to flight and cause them to quake.

■ I.S.lI/i^ W.487.

The Siege zzy

And when all was over this verse was revealed: O ye who believe,
remember God's favour unto you when hosts came at you and We sent
against them a wind and hosts ye saw not, '

For days the weather had been exceptionally cold and wet; and now a
piercing wind came from the east with torrents of rain which forced every
man to take shelter. The night fell, and a tempest raged over the plain. The
wind rose to hurricane force and what the wind did not accomplish was
done by unseen hands. Throughout the two camps of the invaders there
was soon not one tent left standing nor any fire left burning, and the men
crouched shivering on the ground, huddled together for warmth.

The Muslims' camp was somewhat sheltered from the wind, which blew
down none of their tents. But its bitterness filled the air, and together with
the accumulated strain of the siege it reduced the believers to a weakness of
soul that they would not have rfiought possible. The Prophet prayed late
into the night; then he went among the men who happened to be nearest to
his tent, and one of them, Hudhayfah the son of Yaman, told afterwards
how they had heard him say: "Which of you will rise and go to see what the
enemy are about and then return, and I will ask of God that he shall be my
Companion in Paradise?" But there was no response. "We were so
unnerved," said Hudhayfah, "so cold and so hungry that not one man rose
to his feet." When it became clear that no one was intending to offer
himself, the Prophet called to Hudhayfah, who rose and went to him,
spurred into action by being singled out from the rest. "I could not but
rise," he said, "when 1 heard my name upon his lips." "Go thou," said the
Prophet, "and enter in amongst the men and see what they are about; but
do naught else until thou hast returned unto us." "So I went," said
Hudhayfah, "and entered amongst the people while the wind and the hosts
of God were doing their work against them." He told how he made his way
amongst the crouching figures of Quraysh - for it was to their camp that he
had gone - until he came near to where their commaiider was seated. They
spent the night benumbed with cold, and then towards dawn, when the
wind began to abate, Abu Sufyan cried out in a loud voice: "Men of
Quraysh, our horses and our camels are dying; the Bani Qurayzah have
failed us, and we have been informed that they seek to betray us; and now
we have suffered from the wind what your eyes behold. Therefore begone
from this place, for I am going." With these words he went to his camel and
mounted it, so eager to set off that he forgot to untie its hobble, which he
did only after he had forced it to rise on three legs. But 'Ikrimah said to
him: "Thou art the head of the people and their leader. Wilt thou be clear
of us so hastily, and leave the men behind?" whereupon Abu Sufyan was
ashamed, and making his camel kneel once more, he dismounted. The
army broke camp and moved off, and he waited until most of them were on
the homeward march. Then he set off himself, having agreed with Khalid
and *Amr that they should bring up the rear with a detachment of two
hundred horse. While they were waiting, Khalid said: "Every man of sense
now knoweth that Muhammad hath not lied," but Abu Sufyan cut him
short saying: "Thou hast more right not to say so than any man else."
"Wherefore?" said Khalid. And he answered: "Because Muhammad
' XXXIII, 9.

228 Muhammad

belittled the honour of thy father, and slew the chief of thy clan, Abu Jahl."

As soon as Hudhayfah had heard the order to march he made his way to
the camp of Ghatafan, but found the place deserted, for the wind had
broken their resistance also and they were already on their way to Najd. So
he returned to the Prophet, who was standing in prayer, cloaked against
the cold in a wrapper belonging to one of his wives. *'When he saw me,"
said Hudhayfah, "he motioned me to sit beside him at his feet, and threw
the end of the wrapper over me. Then, with me still in it, he made the
bowing and the prostrations. When he had uttered the final greeting of
peace, I told him the news."^

Bilal made the call to the dawn prayer; and when they had prayed it, the
half-light of the approaching day revealed the total emptiness of the plain
beyond the trench. The Prophet gave out that every man had permission to
return home, whereupon most of them set off at great speed for the town.
Then, fearing that the confederates might have left some spies, or that Bani
Qurayzah might be on the watch and that they might try to persuade the
enemy to return, telling them that the trench was no longer guarded, he
sent Jabir and *Umar's son *Abd Allah in the wake of their departed
comrades to call them back. They both went after them, shouting as hard
as they could, but not one man so much as turned his head. Jabir followed
the Bani tiarithah all the way, and stood for a while shouting outside their
houses, but no one came out to him. When he and *Abd Allah finally
returned to the Prophet to tell him of their complete failure, he laughed and
set out for the town himself with those of his Companions who had waited
to escort him.

' U. 683-4; W. 488-90.

LXI

Bani Qurayzah

THEY had only a few hours to rest. When the noon prayer had been
prayed Gabriel came to the Prophet. He was splendidly dressed, his
turban rich with gold and silver brocade, and a cloth of brocaded
velvet was thrown over the saddle of the mule he was riding. "Hast thou
laid down thine arms, O Messenger of God?" he said. "The Angels have
not laid down their arms, and I return this moment from pursuing the foe,
naught else. Verily God in His might and His majesty commandeth thee, O
Muhammad, that thou shouldst go against the sons of Qurayzah. I go to
them even now, that I may cause their souls to quake.

The Prophet gave orders that none should pray the afternoon prayer
until he had reached the Qurayzah territory. The banner was given to *Ali,
and before sunset all the fortresses had been invested by the same army,
three thousand strong, which had opposed Quraysh and their allies at the
trench.

For twenty-five nights they were besieged, and then they sent to the
Prophet to ask him to let them consult Abu Lubabah. Like the Bani Na^Ir,
they had long been allies of Aws, and Abii Lubabah had been one of their
chief links with his tribe. The Prophet bade him go to them, and he was
beset on his arrival by weeping women and children so that much of his
sternness against the treacherous enemy was softened; and when the men
asked him if they should submit to Muljiammad he said "Yea", but at the
same time he pointed to his throat as much as to warn them that in his
opinion submission meant slaughter. The gesture was in contradiction
with his assent, and might have prolonged the siege still further; and no
sooner had he made it than an overwhelming sense of guilt added itself to
the guilt which he already felt in the depth of his soul on account of the
palm-tree which he had refused to give to his orphan ward at the Prophet's
request.^ "My two feet had not moved from where they were," he said,
"before I was aware that I had betrayed the Messenger for God." His face
changed colour and he recited the verse: Verily we are for God, and verily
unto Him are we returning. "What aileth thee.^" said Ka*b. "I have
betrayed God and His Messenger," said Abu Lubabah, and as he went
down from the upper room he put his hand to his beard, and it was wet
with his tears. He could not bring himself to go out the way he had entered
and to face his fellow Awsites and others who, as he knew, were waiting
eagerly to hear his news and to escort him to the Prophet. So he passed

1.1.684. " Seep. 169,

230 Muhammad

through a gate at the back of the fortress and was soon on his way to the
city. He went straight to the Mosque, and bound himself to one of the
pillars, saying: "I will not stir from this place until God relent unto me for
what I did."

The Prophet was waiting for his return, and when he finally heard what
had happened he said: "If he had come to me I would have prayed God to
forgive him; but seeing that he hath done what he hath done, it is not for
me to free him until God shall relent unto him.'"

He remained at the pillar for some ten or fifteen days. Before every
prayer, or whenever it was necessary, his daughter would come to untie his
bonds; then after he had prayed he would bid her bind him once more. Yet
the grievousness of his plight was lessened on account of a dream he had
had one night during the siege. He had felt himself to be embedded in a bog
of foul slime out of which he could not pull himself until he almost died of
the stench of it. Then he saw a flowing stream and he washed himself clean
in it and the air about him was fragrant. When he woke he went to Abu
Bakr to ask him what it could mean; and Abu Bakr told him that his body
meant his soul and that he would enter into a state of soul which would
oppress him sorely and that then he would be given relief from it; and
during his days at the pillar he lived on the hope of that relief.

As to the Bani Qurayzah, Ka*b suggested to them that since many of
them believed Muhammad to be a Prophet they should enter his religion
and save their lives and their property. But they said that death was
preferable, and that they would have nothing but the Torah and the law of
Moses. So Ka*b made other suggestions, putting before them other
possibilities of action, but these also were unacceptable. Now there were
three young men of the Bani Hadl - descendants, that is, of Qurayzah's
brother Hadl ~ who had been in the fortresses of their kinsmen throughout
the siege, and they reiterated the first proposal that Ka*b had made. In their
boyhood they had known Ibn al-Hayyaban, the old Syrian Jew who had
come to live amongst them, and they now repeated his words about the
expected Prophet: "His hour is close upon you. Be ye the first to reach him,
O Jews; for he will be sent to shed blood and to take captive the women
and the children of those who oppose him. Let not that hold you back from
him."^ But the only answer they received was "We will not forsake the
Torah", so the three youths went dovm from the fortress that night, and
telling the Muslim guards of their intention to enter Islam, they pledged
their allegiance to the Prophet. Of the Bani Qurayzah themselves only two
followed their example. One of these, *Amr ibn Su*da, had from the
beginning refused to countenance the breaking of the pact with the
Prophet and had formally dissociated himself from it. He now suggested
that if they would not enter Islam they could offer to pay the Prophet
tribute or a tax ~ "but by God, I know not if he would accept it". They
replied, however, that it was preferable to be killed than to agree to pay
tribute to the Arabs. So he himself left the fortress, and having passed
through the guards as a Muslim, he spent that night in the Mosque in
Medina. But he was never seen again, and to this day it is not known

' W.507. ' U. 136.

Bant Qurayzah 231

whither he went or where he died. The Prophet said of him; "That is a man
whom God saved for his faithfulness,'* The other man, Rifa'ah ibn
Samaw'al, eluded the guards and took refuge with Salma bint Qays, the
Prophet's maternal aunt, Aminah's half-sister, who had married a Khazra-
jite of the Bani an-Najjar. It was in her house that Rifa*ah entered Islam.

The next day, despite Abu Lubabah's warning, the Bani Qurayzah
opened the gates of their fortresses and submitted to the Prophet's
judgement. The men were led out with their hands bound behind their
backs and a space was allotted them on one side of the camp. On another
side the women and children were assembled, and the Prophet put them in
the charge of *Abd Allah ibn Sallam, the former chief rabbi of the Bani
Qaynuqa*. The arms and armour, the garments and the household goods
were collected from each fortress and all gathered together in one place.
The jars of wine and fermented date juice were opened and their contents
poured away.

The clans of Aws sent a deputation to the Prophet asking him to show
their former allies the same leniency that he had shown the Bani Qaynuqa'
who had been the allies of Khazraj. He answered them saying: '*WiU it
satisfy you, men of Aws, if one of yourselves pronounce judgement upon
them?" And they agreed. So he sent to Medina for their chief, Sa*d ibn
Mu'adh, whose wound had not healed and who was being cared for in a
tent in the Mosque. The Prophet had placed him there so that he might visit
him the more often, and Rufaydah, a woman of Aslam, was tending his
wound. Some of his clansmen went to him, and mounting him on an ass
they brought him to the camp. *'Do well by thy confederates," they said to
him on the way, "for the Messenger of God hath set thee in judgement
upon them for no other purpose than that thou mayst treat them with
indulgence." But Sa'd was a man of justice; like *Umar he had been against
sparing the prisoners at Badr, and their opinion had been confirmed by the
Revelation. Many men of Quraysh who had been ransomed on that
occasion had come out against them at Uhud and again at the trench; and
in this last campaign the strength of the invaders had been largely due to
the hostile activities of the exiled Jews of Bani Nadir. If these had been put
to death instead of being allowed to go into exile, the invading army might
have been halved, and Bani Qurayzah would no doubt have remained
faithful to their pact with the Prophet. The arguments offered by past
experience were not in favour of leniency, to say the least. Moreover, Sa'd
had himself been one of the envoys to Qurayzah at the moment of crisis
and had seen the ugliness of their treachery when they had thought that the
defeat of the Muslims was certain. It was true that if he gave a severe
judgement most of the men and women of Aws would blame him, but that
consideration would not have weighed much with Sa*d at any time and
now it weighed not at all, for he was convinced that he was dying. He cut
short the pleas of his clansmen with the words: "The time hath come for
Sa'd, in the cause of God, to give no heed unto the blame of the blamer."

Sa'd was a man of mighty stature, of handsome and majestic appear-
ance, and when he came to the camp the Prophet said "Rise in honour of
your liege lord," and they rose to greet him saying: "Father of 'Amr, the
Messenger of God hath appointed thee to judge the case of thy confeder-

Z3 2 Muhammad

ates." He said: "Do ye then swear by God and make by Him your covenant
that my judgement shall be the verdict upon them?" "We do," they
answered. "And is it binding upon him who is here?" he added, with a
glance in the direction of the Prophet, but not mentioning him out of
reverence. "It is," said the Prophet. "Then I judge," said Sa'd, "that the
men shall be slain, the property divided, and the women and children made
captive."* The Prophet said to him: "Thou hast judged with the judgement
of God from above the seven heavens."

The women and children were taken away to the city where they were
lodged, and the men spent the night in the camp where they recited the
Torah and exhorted one another to firmness and patience. In the morning
the Prophet ordered trenches, long and deep and narrow, to be dug in the
market-place. The men, about seven hundred in all - according to some
accounts more and to others less - were sent for in small groups, and every
group was made to sit alongside the trench that was to be his grave. Then
'All and Zubayr and others of the younger Companions cut off their heads,
each with a stroke of the sword.

When Huyay was led into the market he turned to the Prophet, who was
sitting apart with some of his older Companions, and said to him: "I blame
not myself for having opposed thee, but whoso forsaketh God, the same
shall be forsaken." Then he turned to his fellows and said: "The command
of God cannot be wrong - a writ and a decree and a massacre which God
hath set down in his book against the sons of Israel." Then he sat beside the
trench and his head was cut off.

The last to die were beheaded by torchlight. Then one old man, Zablr
ibn Bata, whose case was not yet decided, was taken to the house where the
women were lodged. The next morning, when they were told of the death
of their men, the city was filled with the sound of their lamentations. But
the aged Zabir quieted them, saying: "Be silent! Are ye the first women of
the children of Israel to be made captive since the world began? Had there
been any good in your men they would have saved you from this. But
cleave ye to the religion of the Jews, for in that must we die, and in that
must we live hereafter."

Zabir had always been an enemy to Islam and had done much to stir up
opposition to the Prophet. But in the civil wars of Yathrib he had spared
the life of a man of Khazraj, Thabit ibn Qays, who wished to repay him for
this, and who had gone to the Prophet to ask him to let Zabir live. "He is
thine," said the Prophet; but when Zabir was told of his reprieve he said to
Thabit: "An old man, without wife and without children, what will he do
with life?" So Thabit went again to the Prophet, who gave him Zabir's wife
and children. But Zabir said: "A household in the Hijaz without property,
how can they survive?" Again Thabit went to the Prophet, who gave him
all Zabir*s possessions except his arms and armour. But thoughts of the

^ Sa'd's judgement was no doubt directed mainly against their treachery; but in fact it
coincided exactly with Jewish law as regards the treatment of a besieged city, even if it were
innocent of treachery: When the Lord thy God hath delivered it unto thy hands, thou shalt
smite every male therein with the edge of the sword: but the women, and the little ones, and
the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself.
Deuteronomy zo: iz.

Bant Qurayzah 233

death of all his fellow tribesmen now overwhelmed Zablr and he said: "By
God I ask thee, Thabit, by the claim 1 have on thee, that thou shouldst join
me with my people, for now that they are gone, there is no good in life." At
first Thabit refused, but when he saw that he was serious he took him to the
place of execution and Zubayr was told to behead him. His wife and
children were set free and their property was returned to them, under
Thabit's guardianship.

As to the other women and children, they were divided, together with
the property, amongst the men who had taken part in the siege. Many of
these captives were ransomed by the Bani Nadir at Khaybar, As part of
his share the Prophet had chosen Rayhanah, the daughter of Zayd, a
Na^irite, who had married her to a man of Qurayzah. She was a woman of
great beauty and she remained the Prophet's slave until she died some five
years later. At first he put her in the care of his aunt Salma, in whose house
Rifa'ah had already taken refuge. Rayhanah herself was averse to entering
Islam, but Rif a'ah, and his kinsmen of the Bani Hadl spoke to her about the
new religion and it was not long before one of the three young converts,
Tha*labah by name, came to the Prophet and told him that Rayhanah had
entered Islam, whereupon he greatly rejoiced. When it became clear that
she was not pregnant, he went to her and offered to set her free and to make
her his wife. But she said: "O Messenger of God, leave me in thy power;
that will be easier for me and for thee."

LXII

After the Siege

WHEN Sa'd had passed judgement on Bani Qurayzah he returned
to his sick-bed in the Mosque. He had already prayed that if God
had any more fighting for him to accomplish against His enemies
He would let him live, and if not that He would let him die; and now his
condition grew rapidly worse. One night not long after the siege the
Prophet found him apparently unconscious. He sat down at his head
which he gently raised and laid against his breast, and then he prayed: "O
Lord, verily Sa'd hath striven upon the path, with fullness of faith in Thy
messenger, leaving naught undone that was his to do. Take then unto
Thyself his spirit with the best acceptance wherewith Thou takest the
spirits of Thy creatures." Sa*d heard the Prophet's voice, and opening his
eyes he said: "Peace be on thee, O Messenger of God, I bear witness that
thou hast delivered thy message." An hour or two later, after the Prophet
had returned home, Gabriel came to him and told him that Sa*d was dead.

When they carried his bier to the cemetery, the bearers were amazed at
the lightness of their load, for Sa*d was a heavy man, but when they
mentioned this to the Prophet he said: "I saw the Angels carrying him."
They set down the bier at the edge of the grave and he led the funeral
prayer, with a multitude of men and women praying behind him. Then
when they lowered the body unto the grave the Prophet's face turned
suddenly pale and he said three times Suhhdn Allah, "Glory be to God!",
this being an affirmation of the Absolute Transcendence of God, some-
times uttered, as now, with reference to a limit that needs to be trans-
cended. All those who were present repeated it and the cemetery resounded
with the glorifications. Then after a moment he gave utterance to the
words of victory, Alldhu Akbar, "God is most Great", and the cemetery
resounded again as the magnification was Ukewise taken up by those who
were present. Afterwards, when asked why he had changed colour, the
Prophet said: "The grave closed in upon your companion, and he felt a
constriction which, if any man could escape it, Sa*d would have escaped.
Then God gave him blissful relief."^

It was at the dawn of one of the days which followed, when the Prophet
was in the apartment of Umm Salamah, that he announced to her: "Abu
Lubabah is forgiven." "May I not give him the good tidings?" she said, "If
thou wilt," he answered, so she stood at the door of her apartment which
opened into the Mosque, not far from the pillar to which he had bound

^ W. 529

After the Siege Z3 5

himself, and called oat; "O Abu Lubabah, be of good cheer, for God hath
relented unto thee." The men who were in the Mosque surged upon him
to set him free, but he stopped them saying: "Not until the Messenger of
God set me free with his own hands." So the Prophet passed by him on
his way to the prayer and loosed his bonds.

After the prayer Abu Lubabah came to the Prophet and said that he
wished to make an offering in expiation of what he had done, and the
Prophet accepted from him a third of his property, for the Revelation
which had set him free had said: Take alms of their wealth to purify them^
the reference being not only to Abu Lubabah but also to other good men at
fault who freely admitted that they were wrong.

About five months after the campaign of the Trench, the Prophet heard
that a rich caravan of Quraysh was on its way from Syria, and Zayd was
sent to waylay it with a troop of a hundred and seventy horse. They
captured the entire merchandise, including much silver which was the
property of Safwan, and most of the men were taken captive. Amongst the
few who escaped was Abu 1*A^, the Prophet's son-in-law; and as he
approached Medina, near which he was bound to pass on his way to
Mecca, he was filled with longing to see his wife and their little daughter
Umamah. Under cover of night he entered the city at considerable risk and
was somehow able to find where Zaynab lived. He knocked at the door
and she opened it and let him in. It was not far from daybreak, and when
Bilal made the call to the prayer Zaynab left him in the house with
Umamah and went to the Mosque to take her place as usual with her sisters
and stepmothers in the front rank of the women, behind the ranks of the
men. The Prophet made the initial magnification which the men repeated
after him; and in the brief moment of silence which ensued Zaynab cried
out with all the strength of her voice: people, I give protection to Abu
l-'As the son of Rabi'." Then she entered the prayer herself with the
magnification.

When the Prophet had pronounced the final greeting of Peace, he rose
and turned to face the congregation saying "Did ye hear what I heard?",
and there was a rnurmur of affirmation throughout the Mosque. "By him
in whose hand is my soul," he said, "I knew naught of this until I heard
what I heard. The meanest Muslim can grant protection which shall be
binding on all other Muslims." Then he went to his daughter and said:
"Receive him with all honour, but let him not come unto thee as a
husband, for thou art not his by law." She told her father that Abu l-*As
was troubled by the loss of the merchandise which he himself had acquired
by barter in Syria on behalf of various men of Quraysh who had entrusted
their goods to him, for he was one of the most trusted men of Mecca. So the
Prophet sent word to those of the expedition who had taken the property
of Abu l-'As: "This man is related to us as ye know, and ye have taken
property of his. If ye should be so good as to return it unto him, that would
please me; but if ye will not, it is booty which God hath given you, so that
yours is the better right to it." They said they would give it back to him, and

IX, 103.

Z36 Muhammad

they even went so far as to return old water-skins, small leather bottles and
pieces of wood. Everything was returned to him without exception; and
since there were signs that he had thoughts of entering Islam, one of the
men said to him: "Why dost thou not enter Islam and take these goods
unto thyself, for they are the property of idolaters?" But he answered: "It
were a bad beginning to my Islam, that I should betray my trust." He took
the goods to Mecca and gave them to their owners. Then he returned to
Medina and entered Islam, pledging his allegiance. So Zaynab was united
once more with her husband, and there was great rejoicing in the family of
the Prophet and throughout the city.

LXIII

The Hypocrites

ZAYD'S successful ambush on the eastern caravan route turned the
thoughts of Quraysh once more to the western route which they so
much preferred; and they now stirred up their own Red Sea coast
allies, the Bani 1-Mu^taliq, a clan of Khuza*ah, to make a raid on Medina,
hoping no doubt that the raiders might gather support from other coastal
tribes, and thus open up the way once more for themselves. But the other
clans of Khuza'ah were more favourably disposed to the Prophet than the
Meccans realised, and news of this project reached him in good time. He
was thus given the opportunity to demonstrate his undiminished and even
increased power along the western route also, to within a few marches
from Mecca itself. After eight days, considerably before the Bani 1-Mus-
taliq were prepared to set out, he was already encamped on their territory
at one of their watering places. From there he advanced and by a quick
manoeuvre was able to close in upon the tent-dwellers, who surrendered
without much resistance. Only one Muslim was killed, and of the enemy
no more than ten. About two hundred families were made captive, and the
booty included some two thousand camels and five thousand sheep and
goats.

The army camped there for a few more days, but its stay was cut short by
an untoward incident. A quarrel broke out at one of the wells between two
coastal tribesmen, from Ghifar and Juhaynah, as to which bucket be-
longed to which, and they fell to fighting. The Ghifarite, whom 'Umar had
hired to lead his horse, shouted for help - "O Quraysh" - while the Ju-
haynite called on his traditional allies of Khazraj, and the more hotheaded
of both Emigrants and Helpers rushed to the scene. Swords were drawn
and blood might have been shed had not some of the closer Companions
intervened on both sides. This would normally have been the end of the
matter. But it so happened that more of the hypocrites than usual had
taken part in this expedition; it was in familiar and well-watered territory,
and from the outset there had been hope of an easy victory and spoils well
worth the effort. They were not, however, prepared to change their point
of view but still persisted in looking on the expeditions which set out from
Yathrib as forays of Khazraj and Aws supplemented by auxiliaries. It was
therefore to the sons of Qaylah that the camp belonged: the Quraysh
refugees were there, as elsewhere, merely on sufferance. In this frame of
mind Ibn Ubayy was sitting apart with a group of his intimates when the
sound of the quarrel came to their ears, and one of them went to see what
was the matter. He returned to report, quite truly, that 'Umar's man had

Z38 Muhammad

been entirely to blame, and that it was he who had struck the first blow.
This served to fan afresh the embers of bitterness which were still
smouldering from the ordeal of the Trench, For the last five years the
tension had gradually mounted until the presence of Muhammad and the
other Emigrants had brought the whole of Arabia against them. Added to
this, the rich and hospitable Jewish tribes which had played so important a
part in the community had been rooted out - two of them exiled and the
third massacred. The civil wars of the oasis had indeed called for a
solution, but Ibn Ubayy was convinced that if he had been made king he
would have known how to put an end to the discord without involving his
people in more dangerous hostilities. And now these impoverished refu-
gees had had the effrontry to obstruct the passage of their benefactors to
the well! "Have they gone so far as this?" said Ibn Ubayy. "They seek to
take precedence over us, they crowd us out of our own country, and
naught will fit us and these rags of Quraysh but the old saying Teed fat thy
dog and it will feed on thee.' By God, when we return to Medina, the
higher and the mightier of us will drive out the lower and the weaker." A
boy of Khazraj named Zayd, who was sitting at the edge of the circle, went
straight to the Prophet and told him what Ibn Ubayy had said. The Prophet
changed colour, and *Umar, who was with him, suggested that he should
forthwith have the traitor beheaded, but he said: **What if men should say,
O *Umar, that Muhammad slayeth his companions?" Meantime one of the
Helpers had gone to Ibn Ubayy and asked him if he had in fact said what
the boy had reported, and Ibn Ubayy came straight to the Prophet and
swore that he had said no such thing. Some of the men of Khazraj who
were present also spoke in his defence, anxious to avoid trouble. The
Prophet let it seem as if the incident were closed; but a surer way of
avoiding trouble was to busy men's minds with something else and he gave
the order to break camp immediately.

Never before had he been known to move off at that hour: it was not
long after midday; and with brief halts at the times of prayer they were
kept on the march through the heat of the afternoon, then all through the
night and from dawn until the heat of the next day became oppressive.
When they were finally told to pitch camp, the men were too tired to do
anything but sleep. During the march the Prophet confided to Sa'd ibn
*Ubadah, who for the Muslims had been gradually replacing Ibn Ubayy as
the chief man of Khazraj, that he believed young Zayd to have spoken the
truth. "O Messenger of God," said Sa*d, "thou, if thou wilt, shalt drive out
him, for he is the lower and the weaker and thou art the higher and the
mightier." He asked him none the less to deal gently with Ibn Ubayy, nor
was the Prophet intending to mention the incident again; but soon after his
talk with Sa'd the matter was taken out of his hands, for the Revelation
descended upon him and that chapter was revealed which is named the
Surah of the Hypocrites, one of whom it quotes, though not by name, as
having said the very words spoken by Zayci. The Prophet did not however
give out this chapter until they had returned to Medina. But he rode up to
Zayd and leaning towards him took hold of his ear. "Boy," he said, "thine
ear heard truly, and God hath confirmed thy speech."

Meantime *Abd Allah, the son of Ibn Ubayy, was deeply distressed for he

The Hypocrites 239

knew that his father had spoken those words. He had also been told that
*Umar had wanted the Prophet to put his father to death, and he was afraid
that the sentence might be passed and the order given at any moment. So he
went to the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of God, I am told that thou art
minded to slay * Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. If thou must needs do it, then give me
the order, and I will bring thee his head. Khazraj know full well that there is
no man amongst them of more filial piety unto his father than myself, and I
fear that if thou shouldst give the order unto another my soul would not
suffer me to look upon the slayer of my father walking amongst men, but I
would slay him, and having thus slain a believer on behalf of a disbeliever I
would enter the fire of Hell." But the Prophet said: "Nay, but let us deal
gently with him and make the best of his companionship so long as he be
with us/'^

LXIV

The Necklace

A SHAH and Umm Salamah had accompanied the Prophet on this
expedition; and at a sunset halt two or three days after the forced
march, an onyx necklace which *A'ishah was wearing came
unclasped and slipped to the ground unobserved. When she noticed her
loss, it was already too dark to make a search, and she was loath to go
without it. Her mother had placed it round her neck on the day of her
wedding, and it was one of her most treasured possessions. The place was
without water and the Prophet had intended no more than a brief halt, but
he now gave orders to camp there until daylight. The reason for the change
of plan was passed from mouth to mouth, and much indignation was felt
that a whole army should be kept waiting at such an inclement spot for the
sake of a necklace. Some of the Companions went and complained to Abii
Bakr, who was greatly embarrassed and scolded his daughter for her
carelessness. There was not one well within reach, and the men had used
up all the water they carried with them, intending to fill their skins and
bottles at the well watered camp they had been aiming for. It would not be
possible to pray at dawn, for they had no means of making their ablutions.
But in the last hours of the night the verse of earth-purification was
revealed to the Prophet - an event of untold importance for the practical
life of the community: If ye find not water then purify yourselves with
clean earth, wiping therewith your faces and your hands. ^ The feelings that
had run so high throughout the host subsided, and Usayd exclaimed: "This
is not the first blessing that ye have brought unto us, O family of Abu
Bakr.''

When daylight came, the necklace was still nowhere to be seen; but
when all hopes of finding it were lost and they were preparing to set off
without it, 'A'ishah's camel rose from where he had been kneeling all
night, and there was the necklace on the ground beneath him.

One of the next camps was in a pleasant valley, with long stretches of
level sand. The Prophet's two tents were pitched as usual somewhat apart
from the others, and that day it was *A'ishah's turn to be with him. She
recounted afterwards how he had suggested that they should have a race.
"I girded up my robe about me," she said, "and the Prophet did likewise.
Then we raced, and he won the race. *This is for that other race*, he said,
* which thou didst win from me.' " He was referring to an incident which
had taken place in Mecca, before the Hijrah, *A'ishah added, by way of

IV, 43.

The Necklace 241

explanation! "He had come to my father's house and I had something in
my hand and he said: *Bring it here to me\ and I would not, and ran away
from him, and he ran after me, but I was too quick for him."'

The clasp of 'A'ishah's necklace was insecure, and at one of the last halts
before they reached Medina it slipped from her neck again. This was when
the order to march had already been given and she had withdrawn from
the camp to satisfy a call of nature. On her return, she and Umm Salamah
seated themselves in their respective howdahs, closed the curtains and
unveiled their faces. Only then did *A'ishah realise her loss; and slipping
out from under the curtain she went back to look for it. Meantime the men
had saddled the camels, and led them to the howdahs which they strapped
each upon its mount. They were accustomed to a considerable difference in
weight between them ~ that of a thirty-year-old woman as compared with
one of fourteen who was slight for her age - and they failed to notice that
this time the lighter of the tvvo howdahs was even lighter than usual, so
they led away the camels to_ join the march without a second thought. **I
found my necklace," said 'A'ishah, "and returned to the camp and not a
soul was there. So I went to where my howdah had been, thinking that they
would miss me and come back for me, and whilst I sat there mine eyes were
overcome with heaviness and I fell asleep. I was lying there when Safwan^
the son of Mu'attal passed by. He had fallen behind the army for some
reason and had not slept at the camp. Noticing me, he came and stood over
me. He had been used to seeing me before the veil was imposed upon us,
and when he recognised me he said: * Verily we are for God, and verily unto
Him we are returning. This is the wife of the Messenger of God.'" His
utterance of the verse of return woke her up ; and she drew her veil over her
face. Safwan offered her his camel and escorted her himself on foot to the
next halt.^

On the army's arrival there, 'A'ishah's howdah had been lifted from its
mount and placed on the ground; and when she did not emerge from it they
assumed that she was asleep. Great was the astonishment when, towards
the end of the halt, after the men had rested, she rode into the camp led by
Safwan. That was the beginning of a scandal which was to shake Medina,
and the tongues of the hypocrites were not slow in starting it, but for the
moment the Prophet and 'A'ishah and most of the Companions were quite
unaware of the impending trouble.

The spoils were divided as usual, and one of the captives was Juwayriyah,
the daughter of Harith, chief of the defeated clan. She fell to the lot of a
Helper who fixed a high price for her ransom, and she came to the Prophet
to ask for his intervention on her behalf. He was on that day in the
apartment of *A'ishah, who opened the door to her, and who said
afterwards, recounting what had taken place: "She was a woman of great
loveliness and beauty. No man looked on her but she captivated his soul,
and when I saw her at the door of my room I was filled with misgivings, for

' W.427.

^ A young man of the Bani Sulaym who had come to live in Medina and was thus counted
as one of the Emigrants.

' U. 732; B,U1, is; W. 426-8.

242 Muhammad

I knew that the Prophet would see in her what I saw. She entered unto him
and said: 'O Messenger of God, I am Juwayriyyah, the daughter of Harith,
the lord of his people. Well thou knowest the distress that hath fallen upon
me, and I have come to seek thy help in the matter of my ransom.' He
answered: 'Wouldst thou have better than that?* *What is better?' she
asked, and he answered: 'That I should pay thy ransom and marry thee.'

Juwayriyyah gladly accepted his offer, but the marriage had not yet
taken place when her father arrived with some camels for her ransom.
They were not the full number he had originally intended to offer, for in the
valley of *Aqiq, shortly before reaching the oasis, he had taken a last look
at the fine animals and had been so smitten with admiration for two of
them that he had separated them from the others and hidden them in one of
the passes of the valley, unable to bring himself to part with them. The
remainder he took to the Prophet and said: "O Muhammad, thou hast
captured my daughter and here is her ransom." "But where," said the
Prophet, "are those two camels which thou didst hide in 'Aqlq?" And he
went on to describe in exact detail the pass in which they were tethered.
Then Flarith said: "I testify that there is no god but God, and that thou,
Muhammad, art the Messenger of God"; and two of his sons entered Islam
with him. He sent for the two camels and gave them with the rest to the
Prophet, who restored his daughter to him. Then she herself entered Islam,
and the Prophet asked her father to give her to him in marriage, which he
did;^ and an apartment was built for her.

When it became known that the Bani Mustaliq were now the Prophet's
kinsmen by marriage, the Emigrants and Helpers set free their captives
who had not yet been ransomed. About a hundred families were released.
"I know of no woman," said 'A'ishah, referring to Juwayriyyah, "who was
a greater blessing to her people than she." '

' U 729. 2 LH.729. 3 1.1. ibid.

LXV

The Lie

NOT long after her return to Medina, *A'ishah fell ill. By that time
the slander that the hypocrites had whispered against herself and
Safwan was being repeated throughout the city. Few took it
seriously, though amongst those who did was her own cousin Mistah, of
the clan of Muttalib. But whether they believed it or not, everyone knew of
it, except herself. She was none the less conscious of a certain reserve on the
part of the Prophet, and she missed the loving attention which he had
shown her in her other illnesses. He would come into the room and say to
those who were nursing her "How are ye all today simply including her
with the others. Deeply wounded, but too proud to complain, she asked his
permission to go to her parents' house where her mother could nurse her.
"As thou wilt," he said.

To recount what took place in *A'ishah's own words: "I went to my
mother without any knowledge of what was being said, and recovered
from my illness some twenty days later. Then one evening I went out with
the mother of Mistah - her mother was the sister of my father's mother -
and as she was walking beside me she stumbled over her gown and
exclaimed: 'May Mistah stumble !' *God*s Life,' I said, 'that was an ill thing
to say of a man of the Emigrants who fought at Badr!* 'O daughter of Abu
Bakr,' she said, *can it be that the news hath not reached thee?' *What
news?' I said. Then she told me what the slanderers had said and how
people were repeating it, 'Can this be so?' I said. 'By God, it is indeed!' was
her answer, and I returned home in tears, and I wept and wept until I
thought that my weeping would split my liver. 'God forgive thee!' I said to
my mother. 'People talk their talk, and thou tellest me not one word of it!'
'My little daughter,' she said, 'take it not so heavily, for there is seldom a
beautiful woman married to a man who loveth her but her fellow wives are
full of gossip about her, and others repeat what they say.' So I lay awake
the whole of that night, and my tears flowed without ceasing.''^

But in fact, whatever jealousies there may have been between one and
another, the wives of the Prophet were all women of piety, and not one of
them took any part in spreading the slander. On the contrary, they
defended 'A'ishah and spoke well of her. Of those chiefly to blame, the
nearest to the Prophet's household was his cousin Hamnah, Zaynab's
sister, who repeated the calumny, thinking thus to further her sister's
interests: for it was generally thought that but for 'A'ishah Zaynab would

• B.UI,I5.

144 Muhammad

have been the Prophet *s favourite wife; and Zaynab suffered much from
her sister's ill conceived zeal on her behalf. Another of the slanderers, in
addition to Mistah, was the poet Hassan ibn Thabit; and in the back-
ground were Ibn Ubayy and the other hypocrites who had started every-
thing.

The Prophet clearly hoped for a Revelation, but when nothing came he
questioned not only his wives but also other near ones. Usamah, who was
the same age as 'A ishah, spoke vigorously in her defence. "This is all a lie,*'
he said. "We know naught but good of her." His mother, Umm Ayman,
was equally emphatic in praise of her. As for *AlT, he said: "God hath not
restricted thee, and there are many women besides her. But question her
maidservant and she will tell thee the truth." So the Prophet sent for her
and said: "O Burayrah, hast thou ever seen aught in 'A'ishah that might
make thee suspect her?" She answered: "By Him that sent thee with the
truth, I know only good of her; and if it were otherwise God would inform
His Messenger. I have no fault to find with 'A'ishah but that she is a girl,
young in years, and when I am kneeding dough and I bid her watch it she
will fall asleep and her pet lamb will come and eat it. I have blamed her for
that more than once."

When next the Prophet went to the Mosque he ascended the pulpit, and
having praised God he said: "O people, what say ye of men who injure me
with regard to my family, reporting of them what is not true? By God, I
know naught but good of my household, and naught but good of the man
they speak of, who never entereth a house of mine but I am with him." No
sooner had he spoken than Usayd rose to his feet and said: "O Messenger
of God, if they are of Aws we will deal with them; and if they be of our
brethren of Khazraj then give us thy command, for they deserve that their
heads should be cut off." Before he had finished Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah was
already on his feet, for Hassan was of Khazraj, and so were the men who
had subtly hatched the slander in the beginning. "God's Life, thou liest!"
he said. "Ye shall not slay them, nor can ye. Neither wouldst thou have
spoken thus, had they been of thy people." "God*s Life, liar thyself !" said
Usayd. "Slay them we shall, and thou art a hypocrite, striving on behalf of
hypocrites." By this time the two tribes were about to come to grips with
one another, but the Prophet motioned them to desist, and descending
from the pulpit he quietened them and sent them away in peace.

If * A'ishah had known that the Prophet had defended her in public from
the pulpit, she would no doubt have been greatly comforted. But she knew
nothing of it at the time. She was only aware of his questioning others
about her, which suggested that he did not know what to think, and this
greatly distressed her. She did not expect him, of himself, to look into her
soul, for she knew that his knowledge of hidden things came to him from
the next world. "I only ki*».ow what God giveth me to know," he would say.
He did not seek to read the thoughts of men; but she expected him to know
that her devotion to him was such as to make the thing she was accused of
impossible.

In any case, it was not enough that he should himself believe *A'ishah
and Safwan to be innocent. The situation was a grave one, and it was
imperative to have evidence which would convince the whole community.

The Lie Z4S

To this end 'A*ishah herself had proved the least helpful of all concerned. It
was now time that her silence should be broken. Not that anything she said
could be enough to resolve the crisis. But the Koran promised that
questions asked during the period of its revelation would be answered. ' In
the present case the Prophet had filled the air with questions - the same
question, reiterated to different persons - but for the promised answer to
be given by Heaven, it was perhaps necessary that the question should
already have been put to the person most closely involved.

"I was with my parents," said 'A'ishah, "and I had wept for two nights
and a day; and while they were sitting with me a woman from the Helpers
asked if she could join us, and I bade her enter, and she sat and wept with
me. Then the Prophet entered and took his seat, nor had he sat with me
since people began to say what they said of me. A month had passed, and
no tidings had come to him about me from Heaven. After uttering the
testification there is no god but God, he said: *0 *A'ishah, I have been told
such and such a thing concerning thee, and if thou art innocent, surely God
will declare thine innocence; and if thou hast done aught that is wrong,
then ask forgiveness of God and repent unto Him; for verily if the slave
confess his sin and then repent, God relenteth unto him.' No sooner had he
spoken than my tears ceased to flow and 1 said to my father 'Answer the
Messenger of God for me,' and he said: 'I know not what to say.' When 1
asked my mother she said the same, and I was no more than a girl, young in
years, and there was not much of the Koran that I could recite. So I said: *1
know well that ye have heard what men are saying, and it hath settled in
your souls and ye have believed it; and if I say unto you that I am innocent -
and God knoweth that 1 am innocent — ye will not believe me, whereas if I
confessed to that which God knoweth 1 am guildess of, ye would believe
me.' Then I groped in my mind for the name of Jacob, but I could not
remember it, so I said: *But I will say as the father of Joseph said: Beautiful
patience must be mine; and God is He of whom help is to be asked against
what they say,^ Then I turned to my couch and lay on it, hoping that God
would declare me innocent. Not that I thought He would send down a
Revelation on my account, for it seemed to me that I was too paltry for my
case to be spoken of in the Koran, But I was hoping that the Prophet would
see in his sleep a vision that would exculpate me.

"He remained sitting in our company and all of us were still present
when a Revelation came to him: he was seized with the pangs which seized
him at such times, and as it were pearls of sweat dripped from him,
although it was a wintry day. Then, when he was relieved of the pressure,
he said in a voice that vibrated with gladness: *0 *A'ishah, praise God, for
He hath declared thee innocent.' Then my mother said 'Arise and go to the
Messenger of God,' and I said: 'Nay by God, I will not rise and go to him,
and I will praise none but God,'

The words of exculpation were: Verily they tvho brought forth the lie
are a party amongst you . . , When ye took it upon your tongues, uttering
with your mouths that whereof ye had no knowledge, ye counted it but a
trifle. Yet in the sight of God it is enormous. Why said ye not when ye heard

' V,ioi. 2 XII, i8, * B.LII,i5.

24^ Muhammad

it: To speak of this is not for us. Glory be to Thee! This is a monstrous
calumny. God biddeth you betuare of ever repeating the like thereof, if ye

are believers, '

The new Revelation also dwelt upon the whole question of adultery,
and, while prescribing the penalty, it likewise prescribed, as the penalty for
slandering honourable women, that the slanderers should be scourged.
This sentence was carried out upon Mis rati and Hassan and Hamnah, who
had been most explicit in spreading the calumny and who confessed their
guilt. But the hypocrites, who had been more insidious, had none the less
been only implicit, nor did they confess to having had any part in it, so the
Prophet preferred not to pursue the matter, but to leave them to God.

Abu Bakr had been in the habit of giving his kinsman Mistah an
allowance of money on account of his poverty, but now he said: "Never
again by God will I give unto Mistah, and never again will I show him
favour, after what he hath said against 'A*ishah, and after the woe he hath
brought upon us." But there now came the Revelation: Let not the men of
dignity and wealth amongst you swear that they will not give unto kinsmen
and unto the needy and unto those who have migrated for the sake of God,
Let them forgive and let them be indulgent. Do ye not long that God
should forgive youf And God is Forgiving, MercifuL^Then Abu Bakr said:
"Indeed I long that God shall forgive me," And he returned to Mistah and
gave him what he had been used to giving him and said: "I swear I will
never withdraw it from him!" The Prophet likewise, after a certain time
had elapsed, showed great generosity to Hassan; and he married his cousin
Hamnah, Mus*ab*s widow, to Talhah, by whom she had two sons.

XXIV, 11,15-17.

2 XXIV, zz.

LXVI

The Dilemma of
Quraysh

THE Prophet fasted Ramadan in Medina and remained there also
during the month which followed. One night towards its end he
dreamed that with his head shaved he entered the Ka*bah, and its
key was in his hand. The next day he told his Companions of this and
invited them to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage with him, whereupon they
hastily set about making preparations so that they could leave as soon as
possible. Between them they purchased seventy camels to be sacrificed in
the sacred precina. Their meat would then be distributed among the poor
of Mecca. The Prophet decided to take one of his wives with him, and
when lots were cast the lot fell to Umm Salamah. Also amongst the
pilgrims were the two women of Khazraj who had been present at the
Second 'Aqabah, Nusaybah and Umm Mam*.

Each man took with him a sword, and what might be needed tor
hunting, but before they set off 'Umar and Sa'd ibn *Ubadah suggested that
they should go fully armed. Quraysh, they said, might well take the
opportunity of attacking them, despite the sacred month. But the Prophet
refused, saying: "I will not carry arms; I have come forth for no end other
than to make the Pilgrimage." At the first halt he called for the sacrificial
camels to be brought to him, and he himself consecrated one of them,
turning it to face towards Mecca, making a mark on its right flank, and
placing garlands round its neck, after which he ordered that the others
should be consecrated in the same way. He then sent on ahead a man of
Khuza*ah, of the clan of Ka'b, to bring him back word of the reactions of
Quraysh.

The Prophet was bareheaded and had already donned the age-old
traditional pilgrim's dress of two pieces of unstitched cloth, one girt round
the waist to cover the lower part of the body, and the other draped round
the shoulders. He now consecrated himself for the Pilgrimage with two
prayer cycles, after which he began to utter the pilgrim's cry Labbayk
Alldhumma Labbayk, which means "Here 1 am at Thy service, O God."
Most of the others followed his example, but a few preferred to wait until
they had advanced somewhat further upon their journey, for the pilgrimal
state carried with it certain restrictions about hunting.

2,48 Muhammad

When Quraysh heard of the departure of the pilgrims from Medina, they
were filled with misgivings, as the Prophet had anticipated, and they
immediately summoned a meeting in the Assembly. Never had they known
a more serious dilemma. If they, the guardians of the sanctuary, were to
hinder the approach of over a thousand Arab pilgrims to the Holy House,
this would be a most flagrant violation of the laws on which all their own
greatness was founded. On the other hand, if they allowed their enemies to
enter Mecca in peace and comfort, it would be an immense moral triumph
for Muhammad. The tidings of it would spread throughout Arabia and be
on everybody's lips; and it would serve to place the crown of defeat upon
their own recent unsuccessful attack upon Medina. Perhaps worst of all,
these pilgrims' performances of the ancient rites would serve to make the
new faith more attractive and to confirm its claim to be the religion of
Abraham. All things considered, it was out of the question to let them
come. "By God, this shall not be," they said, "so long as there is a single eye
amongst us with a glimmer of life left in it.'*

When the pilgrims reached 'Usfan, the scout who had been sent on
ahead rejoined them with the news that Quraysh had sent Khalid with a
troop of two hundred horse to bar their approach. So the Prophet asked for
a guide who could take them on by another way, and a man of Aslam led
them a little towards the coast and then by a devious and difficult path until
they reached the pass which leads down to yudaybiyah, an open trart of
land below Mecca at the edge of the sacred territory. Their detour had kept
them well out of sight of Khalid, but at one point, when it was too late for
him to take up another position, they raised so much dust that he realised
what had happened, and galloped back to Mecca with his troop to warn
Quraysh of their approach.

The Prophet had chosen his favourite camel, Qaswa', for the Pilgrimage,
and at the end of the pass she stopped and knelt. The rocks resounded as
many of the men cried out Hal! Hal!, which is what they say to make a
camel rise, but she remained as if rooted to the earth. "Qa^wa* is
stubborn," they said, but the Prophet knew well that it was a sign that they
should go no further than Hudaybiyah, at any rate for the moment. "She is
not stubborn," he said, "it is not in her nature; but He holdeth her who
held the elephant." He added, referring to Quraysh: "They shall not ask of
me this day any concession which honoureth the rights of God but I will
grant it them."' Then he spoke to Qaswa*, and she quickly rose to her feet
and bore him down to the edge of Hudaybiyah, followed by the other
pilgrims. Here he told them to camp; but there was almost no water, only
the dregs of it at the bottom of one or two hollows, and the men were
complaining of thirst. The Prophet called Najiyah to him, the man of
Aslam who was in charge of the sacrificial camels, and told him to bring
him a pail of as much water as he could from the largest of the hollows,
which he did. Having performed his ablution, the Prophet rinsed his
mouth and spat back the water into the pail. Then, taking an arrow from
his quiver, he said: "Go down with this water and pour it into the waters of
the hollow; then stir them with this arrow." Najiyah did as he was bid, and

U.74i;W.587.

The Dilemma of Quraysh 24 9

water, clear and fresh, surged up so quickly and so plentifully at the touch
of the arrow that he was almost overwhelmed before he could clamber out.
The pilgrims gathered round the edge of the hollow and every man drank
his fill, as did also the animals.

One or two of the hypocrites, were amongst the pilgrims, including Ibn
Ubayy ; and, as he sat drinking his fill, one of his fellow clansmen addressed
him saying: "Out upon thee, O father of Hubab, hath not the time now
come for thee to see how thou art placed? What more than this can there
be?" "I have seen the like of this before," said Ibn Ubayy, whereupon the
other man remonstrated with him so threateningly that Ibn Ubayy went
with his son to the Prophet to forestall trouble and to say that he had been
misunderstood. But before he had time to speak the Prophet said to him:
"Where hast thou seen the like of that which thou hast seen this day?" He
answered: "I have never seen the like of it." "Then why," said the Prophet,
"didst say what thou saidst?" "I ask forgiveness of God," said Ibn Ubayy.
"O Messenger of God," said his son, "ask forgiveness for him," and the
Prophet did so.*

Having satisfied their thirst, the pilgrims were soon able also to eat their
fill, thanks to a gift of camels and sheep from two Bedouin chiefs, whose
tribe, the Bani Khuza*ah, one-time guardians of the Sanctuary, included
the clans of Aslam, Ka'b and MiistaHq. To a man, these were now all well
disposed towards the Prophet. For such of them as had not yet entered
Islam, there was a political advantage in this alliance, which was needed to
counterbalance the pact that their great enemies, the Bani Bakr, had long
had with Quraysh. This situation was soon to give rise to events of the
greatest importance. For the moment, however, there was no fighting
between Khuza*ah and Bakr, and Khuza'ah were tolerated by Quraysh,
but at the same time suspected. One of their leading men, Budayl ibn
Warqa*, was in Mecca when news came that the pilgrims were encamped
at Hudaybiyah. He now went with some of his clansmen to the Prophet to
inform him of the attitude of Quraysh. "They swear by God," he said,
"that they will not leave the way open between thee and the House until
the last of their fighting men hath perished." The Prophet said: "We came
not here for battle; we came only to make our pilgrimal rounds about the
House. He that standeth in our way, him we shall fight; but I will grant
them time, if they so desire it, to take their precautions and to leave the way
clear for us."

Budayl and his fellows returned to Mecca, and Quraysh received them in
sullen silence. When they offered to tell them what Muhammad had said to
them, 'Ikrimah, the son of Abii Jahl, said they did not wish to hear it,
whereupon 'Urwah, one of their allies of Thaqlf - his mother was a
Meccan - protested that this attitude was absurd. So Safw^an said to
Budayl: "Tell us what ye have seen and what ye have heard." And he told
them of the peaceful intent of the pilgrims, and also that the Prophet had
said he was ready to give Quraysh time to prepare for their coming. Then
*Urwah said: "Budayl hath brought you a goodly concession such as no
man can refuse except to his own hurt. So accept his hearsay of it, but send

W. 589.

z$o Muhammad

me to bring confirmation direct from Muhammad; and I will look on those
who are with him, and I will be for you a scout, to bring you tidings of
him."

Quraysh accepted his offer, but they had already sent, as scout and
possible envoy, the man who commanded all their allies of the Bedouin
tribes, known collectively as the Ahabish, This was Hulays of the Bani
I-Harith, one of the clans of Kinanah. It was he who had rebuked Abu
Sufyan for the mutilations at Uhud. When the Prophet saw him coming, he
knew - either from his gait and demeanour or from what he had heard of
him - that he was a man of piety, with a great reverence for sacred things,
so he gave orders that the animals they intended to sacrifice should be sent
to meet him; and when the seventy camels solemnly filed past Hulays with
their marks of consecration and their festive ornaments he was so impress-
ed that without going to speak to the Prophet he went straight back to
Quraysh and assured them that the pilgrims intentions were entirely
peaceful. Exasperated, the Meccans told him that he was merely a man of
the desert and that he had no knowledge of the situation. This was a great
tactical error, as they soon realised, but too late. "Men of Quraysh," he
said sternly, "not for this, by God, did we consent to be your allies, and not
for this pledged we our pact with you. Shall one who cometh to honour the
House of God be banned from it? By Him in whose hand is my soul, either
ye let Muhammad do what he hath come to do, or I lead away the Ahabish,
every man of them." "Bear with us, Hulays," they said, "until we reach
terms that we can accept."

Meantime 'Urwah of Thaqif had arrived at the pilgrim's camp, and was
already in converse with the Prophet. Seated in front of him, he began by
treating him as an equal and took him by the beard when he addressed
him; but Mughlrah, one of the Emigrants who was standing by, rapped his
hand with the fiat of his sword, and he took it away. A few moments later,
when he ventured to take the Prophet's beard again, Mughlrah gave him a
harder rap, saying: "From the beard of God's Messenger take thy hand
while it is yet thine to take," *Urwah refrained from any further familiari-
ties with the Prophet; but after talking with him at some length, he stayed
in the camp for several hours. He had promised Quraysh to be their scout
as well as their envoy, and he was bent on taking note of everything. But
what impressed him most were things whi<:h he had not come to see, things
of which he had never seen the like; and when he returned to Mecca he said
to Quraysh: "O people, I have been sent as envoy unto kings - unto Caesar
and Chosroes and the Negus - and I have not seen a king whose men so
honour him as the companions of Muhammad honour Muhammad. If he
commandeth aught, they almost outstrip his word in fulfilling it; when he
performeth his ablution, they weilnigh fight for the water thereof; when he
speaketh, their voices are hushed in his presence; nor will they look him
full in the face, but lower their eyes in reverence for him. He hath offered
you a goodly concession; therefore accept it from him."'

While 'Urwah was still in the camp, the Prophet had mounted a man of
Ka'b named Khirash on one of his camels and sent him as envoy to

' B. UV, 15; W. 593-600.

The Dilemma of Quraysh z$i

Quraysh. When he arrived, Ikrimah hamstrung the camel; but Hulays and
his men intervened and saved the envoy's life, compelling Quraysh to let
him go back to the Prophet. "O Messenger of God," he said on his return,
"send a man who is better protected than I am." The Prophet called *Umar
to him, but *Umar said that Quraysh knew well of his great hostility to
them, and that none of his own clan, the Bani * Adi, were strong enough to
defend him. "But I will show you," he said, "a man who is more powerful
in Mecca than I am, richer in kinsmen and better protected - *Uthman ibn
*Affan." So the Prophet sent *Uthman and he was well received by his
kinsmen of * Abdu Shams and by others; and though they reiterated to him
their refusal to allow any of those now in Hudaybiyah to approach the
Ka*bah, they invited him personally to make his pilgrimal rounds, which
he refused to do. Quraysh had already sent a message to Ibn Ubayy,
offering the same concession to him also, but he replied; "1 make not my
rounds of the House until the Messenger of God maketh his.*' The Prophet
was told of this and it pleased him.

LXVII

"A Clear Victory"

IT was during 'Uthman's absence in Mecca that there came over the
Prophet a state which was comparable to that of receiving a Revelation
but which left him in full possession of his faculties. He gave instruc-
tions to one of his Companions, who thereupon went through the camp
proclaiming: "The Holy Spirit hath descended upon the Messenger and
commandeth allegiance. So go ye forth in the Name of God to make your
pledge.'" Meantime the Prophet had seated himself beneath an acacia tree
that was green with its spring foliage breaking into leaf; and one by one the
Companions came and pledged allegiance to him. The first man to reach
him was Sinan, who was of the same tribe as the Jahsh family, that is the
Bani Asad ibn Khuzaymah. The crier had specified nothing about the
nature of the pledge, so Sinan said "O Messenger of God, I pledge thee
mine allegiance unto that which is in thy soul," and the others pledged
themselves accordingly. Then the Prophet said "I pledge the allegiance of
'Uthman," whereupon he put out his left hand, as the hand of his
son-in-law, and grasping it with his right hand, pledged the pact. Only one
man present failed to respond to the crier, and that was the hypocrite Jadd
ibn Qays who tried to hide behind his camel but was none the less seen.

Quraysh now sent Suhayl to conclude a treaty, and with him were his
two clansmen Mikraz and Huwaytib. They conferred with the Prophet,
and the Companions heard their voices rise and fall according to whether
the point in question was hard to agree upon or easy. When they had finally
reached an agreement the Prophet told 'Ah to write down the terms,
beginning with the revealed words of consecration Bismt Llahi r-Rahmani
r-Rahtm, in the Name of God, the Good, theMerciful, but Suhayl objected.
"As to Rahman,'' he said, "I know not what he is. But write Bisntik
Alldhumma, In Thy Name, O God, as thou wert wont to write." Some of
the Companions cried out "By God, we will write naught but Bismi Lldhi
r-Rahmdni r-Rahtm,^' but the Prophet ignored them and said "Write
Bismik Alldhumma,''' and he went on dictating: "These are the terms of the
truce between Muhammad the Messenger of God and Suhayl the son of
'Amr" ; but again Suhayl protested. "If we knew thee to be the Messenger of
God," he said, "we would not have barred thee from the House, neither
would we have fought thee; but write Muhammad the son of * Abd Allah,"
*Ali had already written "the Messenger of God," and the Prophet told him
to strike out those words, but he said he could not. So the Prophet told him

^ W.604.

'A Clear Victory" 253

to point with his finger to the words in question, and he himself struck
them out. Then he told him to write in their place "the son of *Abd Allah,"
which he did.

The document continued: "They have agreed to lay down the burden of
war for ten years, in which times men shall be safe and not lay violent
hands the one upon the other; on condition that whoso cometh unto
Muhammad of Quraysh without the leave of his guardian, Muhammad
shall return him unto them; but whoso cometh unto Quraysh of those who
are with Muhammad, they shall not be returned. There shall be no
subterfuge and no treachery. And whoso wisheth to enter into the bond
and pact of Muhammad may do so; and whoso wisheth to enter the bond
and pact of Quraysh may do so." Now there were present in the camp
some leading men of Khuza'ah who had come to visit the pilgrims, whereas
one or two representatives of Bakr had followed in the wake of Suhayl; and
at this point the men of Khuza'ah leaped to their feet and said: "We are one
with Muhammad in his bond and his paa." Whereupon the men of Bakr
said: "We are one with Quraysh in their bond and their pact." And this
agreement was subsequently ratified by the chiefs of both tribes. The treaty
ended with the words: "Thou, Muhammad, shalt depart from us this
present year, and shalt not enter Mecca when we are present in despite of
us. But in the year that is to come, we shall go out from Mecca and thou
shalt enter it with thy companions, staying therein for three days, bearing
no arms save the arms of the traveller, with swords in sheaths."^

In virtue of the Prophet's vision, the Companions had been certain of the
success of their expedition; and when they heard the terms of the treaty
and realised that having reached the very edge of the sacred precinct they
must now return home with nothing accomplished, it was almost more
than they could endure. But worse was to come: as they sat there in sullen
and explosive silence, the clank of chains was heard and a youth staggered
into the camp with his feet in fetters. It was Abii Jandal, one of the younger
sons of Suhayl. His father had imprisoned him on account of his Islam,
fearing that he would escape to Medina. His elder brother 'Abd Allah was
among the pilgrims and was about to welcome him when Suhayl caught
hold of the chain that was round his prisoner's neck and struck him
violently in the face. Then he turned to the Prophet and said: "Our
agreement was concluded before this man came to thee." "That is true,"
said the Prophet. "Return him then unto us," said Suhayl. "O Muslims,"
shouted Abii Jandal at the top of his voice, "am I to be returned unto the
idolaters, for them to persecute me on account of my religion?" The
Prophet took Suhayl aside and asked him as a favour to let his son go free,
but Suhayl implacably refused. His fellow envoys, Mikraz and Huway^ib,
had been so far silent; but now, feehng that this incident was an inaus-
picious start for the truce, they intervened. "O Muhammad," they said,
"we give him our protection on thy behalf." This meant that they would
lodge him with them, away from his father, and they held to their promise.
"Be patient, Abu Jandal," said the Prophet. "God will surely give thee and
those with thee relief and a way out. We have agreed on the terms ot a truce

H. 747-8.

Z54 Muhammad

with these people, and have given them our solemn pledge, even as they
have done to us, and we will not now break our v^^ord."

At this point *Umar could no longer contain himself. Rising to his feet,
he went to the Prophet and said "Art thou not God's Prophet?" and he
answered "Yea." "Are we not in the right and our enemies in the wrong?"
he said, and again the Prophet assented. "Then why yield we in such lowly
wise against the honour of our religion?" said *Umar, whereupon the
Prophet replied: "I am God's Messenger and I will not disobey Him. He
will give me the victory." "But didst thou not tell us," persisted *Umar,
"that we should go unto the House and make our rounds about it?" "Even
so," said the Prophet, "but did I tell thee we should go to it this year?"
'Umar conceded that he had not. "Verily thou shalt go unto the House,"
said the Prophet, "and shalt make thy rounds about it." But *Umar was still
seething with indignation, and went to Abu Bakr to work off his feelings
still further. He put to him exactly the same questions he had put to the
Prophet; but though Abu Bakr had not heard the answers, he gave him the
same answer to each question in almost exactly the same words; and at the
end he added: "So cleave unto his stirrup, for by God he is right." This
impressed *Umar, and though his feelings had not yet subsided, he gave no
further vent to them, and when the Prophet summoned him to put his
name to the treaty he signed it in silence. The Prophet also told SuhayPs son
*Abd Allah to put his name to it. Others of the Muslims who signed it were
'All, Abu Bakr, ' Abd ar-Rahman ibn *Awf and Mahmud ibn Maslamah.

Some of the general bitterness seemed to have been smoothed over; but
when Suhayl and the others left the camp, taking with them the tearful Abu
Jandal, men's souls were stirred up again. The Prophet was standing apart,
with liiose who had signed the document He now left them, and went
towards the main body of the pilgrims. "Rise and sacrifice your animals,"
he said, "and shave your heads." Not a man moved, and he repeated it a
second and a third time, but they simply looked at him in dazed and
bewildered silence. It was not a rebellion on their part, but having had their
expectations shattered by the turn of events they were now genuinely
perplexed by the command to do something which they knew to be ritually
incorrect; for according to the tradition of Abraham the sacrifices had to
be performed within the sacred territory, and the same applied to the rite of
shaving the head. None the less, their apparent disobedience dismayed the
Prophet, who withdrew to his tent and told Umm Salamah what had
happened. "Go forth," she said, "and say no word to any man until thou
hast performed thy sacrifice." So the Prophet went to the camel which he
himself had consecrated and sacrificed it, saying in a loud voice, so that the
men could hear: Bismi-Lldh, Alldhu Akbar. At these words the men leaped
to their feet and raced to make their sacrifices, falling over each other in
their eagerness to obey; and when the Prophet called for Khirash - the man
of Khuza*ah he had sent to Mecca before *Uthman - to shave his head,
many of the Companions set about shaving each other's heads so vigorous-
ly that Umm Salamah was afraid, as she afterwards remarked, that mortal
wounds might be inflicted. But some of them merely cut locks of their hair,
knowing that this was traditionally acceptable as a substitute. Meantime
the Prophet had retired to his tent with Khirash; and when the rite had

''A Clear Victory" 2,55

been accomplished he stood at the entrance with shaven scalp and said:
"God have Mercy on the shavers of their heads!" Whereupon those who
had cut their hair protested: "And on the cutters of their hair, O Messenger
of God!" But the Prophet repeated what he had said at first, and the voices
were raised in protest still louder. Then after another repetition and a third
thunderous protest he added: "And upon the cutters of their hair!" When
asked afterwards why he had first of all prayed only for the shavers of their
heads, he answered: "Because they doubted not."

Returning to his tent, the Prophet gathered up his luxuriant black hair
from the ground and threw it over a nearby mimosa tree, whereupon the
men crowded round, each bent on taking what he could for its blessing.
Nor was Nusaybah to be outdone by the men, and she also made her way
to the tree, and was able to snatch some locks, which she treasured until
her dying day.

The earth of the camp was strewn with the hair of the pilgrims. But
suddenly there came a powerful gust of wind which lifted the hair from the
ground and blew it towards Mecca, into the sacred territory; and everyone
rejoiced, taking it as a sign that their pilgrimage had been accepted by God
in virtue of their intentions, and they now understood why the Prophet had
told them to perform their sacrifices.

After they had set off on the return journey to Medina, 'Umar's conscience
began to trouble him; and his anxiety was greatly increased when he rode
up to the Prophet, seeking to enter into conversation with him, and the
Prophet, so it seemed to him, was markedly distant and reserved. 'Umar
rode on ahead, saying to himself: "O *Umar, let thy mother now mourn her
son!" He said afterwards that he was so troubled for having questioned the
wisdom of the Prophet that he feared there would be a special Revelation
condemning him. His fears reached their height when he heard behind him
the hooves of a galloping horse, and the rider summoned him back to the
Prophet. But his troubles vanished in an instant when he saw the Prophet's
face radiant with joy. "There hath descended upon me a siirah^'^ he said,
which is dearer to me than aught else beneath the sun."

The new Revelation left no doubt that the expedition from which they
were now returning must be considered as a victorious one, for it opened
with the words: Verily We have given thee a clear victory.^ It also spoke of
the recent pact of allegiance: God was well pleased with the believers when
they pledged allegiance unto thee beneath the tree. He knew what was in
their hearts^ and sent down the Spirit of Peace upon them, and hath given
them the meed of a near victory} The Divine Good Pleasure referred to is
no less than the promise of Ridwdn^ for him who fulfilled his pledge, and so
this beatific allegiance is known as the Pact of Ridwdn. The descent of the
SakTnah,'* the Spirit of Peace, is mentioned also in another verse: He it is
who sent down the Spirit of Peace into the hearts of the believers that they
might increase in faith upon their faith . . , that He may bring the believing
men and the believing women into gardens that are watered by flowing
rivers, gardens wherein they shall dwell immortaU cmd that He may take

• XLVIII,!. XLVIII,i8. ^ Sec p. 95. " Hehicv^ Shekinah.

256 Muhammad

from them all guilt of evil. Triumph immense for them is that in the sight of
God:

The Prophet's vision, which had prompted the expedition, is referred to
as follows: God hath truly fulfilled for His Messenger the vision: God
willing^ ye shall enter the inviolable mosque in safety, not fearing, with the
hair of your heads shaven or cut. But He knoweth what ye know not, and
before that hath He given you a near victory,^

■ XLVIII,4-5. ' XLVin,z7.

LXVIII

After Hudaybiyah

Abu BASIR of the Bani Thaqif was a young man whose family had
ZA come from Ta*if and settled in Mecca as confederates of the Bani
JL JL Zuhrah. He had entered Islam and they had imprisoned him, but he
escaped and made his way to Medina on foot, arriving there shortly after
the Prophet's return from liudaybiyah. He was soon followed by an envoy
of Quraysh who demanded his return. While giving Abu Basir the same
words of comfort that he had given to Abu Jandal, the Prophet told him
that he was bound by the treaty to deliver him into the hands of the envoy.
The Companions, including *Umar, were now more or less reconciled to
the terms of the treaty, so when Abu Basir was led off by the man of
Quraysh and the freed slave he had brought with him for support, those
Emigrants and Helpers who were present serenely echoed the words of the
Prophet: "Be of good cheer! God will surely find thee a way out."

Their hopes were realised sooner than was expected. Despite his youth,
Abu Basir was a resourceful man and at the first halt he contrived to get the
sword of the envoy and to kill him, whereupon the freedman, Kawthar by
name, fled headlong back to Medina. He entered the Mosque unopposed
and threw himself at the feet of the Prophet, who happened to be there and
who said as he approached: "This man hath seen some terrible thing."
Kawthar gasped out that his fellow had been killed and that he himself was
all but killed, and it was not long before Abu Basir himself appeared with
the drawn sword in his hand. "O Prophet of God," he said, ''thine
obligation hath been fulfilled. Thou didst return me unto them, and God
hath delivered me." "Alas for his mother!"' said the Prophet. "What a fine
firebrand for war, had he but other men with him!" But if Quraysh sent
further envoys to demand his return he would be bound to comply, as he
had done in the first case. Such an idea however was far from the mind of
Abu Basir, who now suggested that the arms and the armour of the dead
man together with the camels should be treated as booty, divided into five
parts and distributed according to the law. "If 1 did that," said the Prophet,
"they would hold that 1 had not fulfilled the terms I swore to keep." Then
he turned to the terrified survivor of the two Meccans. "The spoil
plundered from thy fellow is thy concern," he said. "And take thou back
this man to those who sent thee," he added, indicating Abu Basir. Kawthar
turned pale: "O Muhammad," he said, "1 value my life. My strength is not

* An often used ellipsis meaning: "The man is such a hothead that his mother will soon
have to mourn his death."

258 Muhammad

enough for him, nor have I the hands of two men." The Muslims had
fulfilled their obligation, but the representative of Quraysh had refused to
take custody of the prisoner. So the Prophet turned to Abu Ba^Ir and said:
"Go whither thou wilt."

He made his way to the shores of the Red Sea, with the words "had he
but other men with him" still in his ears. Nor was he the only one who had
taken note of this veiled authorisation and instruction. *Umar had been
intent on what had passed; and he contrived to pass the Prophet's words
on to the Muslims in Mecca, together with information about Abu Basir*s
whereabouts which he soon learned from friendly men of the coastal tribes
who came to Medina, Now Suhayl's son, Abu Jandal, was no longer
closely guarded by his protectors as he had been by his father; and in any
case the treaty had made for a general slackening of vigilance in Mecca as
to the watch kept on the young Muslim prisoners, for Muljammad had
shown that if they escaped to Medina he would keep to his word and
return them. So Abu Jandal made his way to Abu Ba^ir, and other youths
did the same, including Walid, the brother of Khalid. Abu Ba^ir made with
them a camp at a strategic point on the Meccan caravan route to Syria.
They recognised him as their leader and he led them in prayer and advised
them on questions concerning the rites and other aspects of the religion, for
many of them were recent converts, and they greatly respected him and
gladly obeyed him. Quraysh had been rejoicing in the re-established safety
of their favourite road to the north. But no less than seventy young men
joined Abu Basir's camp, and they became the terror of the caravans.
Finally, after they had suffered the loss of many lives and much merchan-
dise, Quraysh sent a letter to the Prophet asking him to take these
highwaymen into his community, and promising that they would not ask
for them to be returned to Mecca. So the Prophet wrote to Abu BasTr that
he could now come to Medina with his companions. But meantime the
young leader had fallen seriously ill and when the letter arrived death was
close upon him. He read it and died clasping it between his hands. His
companions prayed over him and buried him, and made a mosque at the.
place of his burial; then they went to join the Prophet in Medina.^

When they reached the lava tract Walld's camel stumbled and threw
him, so that he cut his finger on a stone. As he bound it up, he addressed it
in verse, saying:

"What art thou but a finger shedding blood.
With no wound else upon the path of God."

But the cut festered, and the wound proved to be mortal. He was able, none
the less, before he died, to write a letter to his brother Khalid urging him to
enter Islam.

Only one Muslim woman escaped from Mecca at this time and took
refuge in Medina, and that was 'Uthman's half-sister, Umm Kulthum, the
daughter of his mother Arwa and of *Uqbah, who had been put to death on
the way from Badr. But a Revelation now came forbidding the return of

W, 624-9; B. LIV; 1.1. 751-3.

After Hudaybiy ah z$9

any believing women to the disbelievers. So when Umm Kulthum's two full
brothers came to take her back, the Prophet refused to let them have her,
and Quraysh accepted his refusal without protest. There had been no
mention of women in the treaty. Then Zayd and Zubayr and *Abd
ar-Rahman ibn *Awf asked for her hand in marriage, and the Prophet
advised her to marry Zayd, which she did.

In the month which followed the treaty, *A'ishah and her father suffered
a great loss which was shortly to be followed by cause for great rejoicing,
Umm Ruman fell ill and died. She vvas buried in the Baqi*, and the Prophet
prayed over her and descended into her grave. Inevitably the news of her
death was brought to Mecca and came to the ears of her son, *Abd
al-Ka'bah; and it is possible that his bereavement prompted him to take an
action which he had no doubt been contemplating for some time. However
that may be, it was not long after his mother's death that he came to
Medina and entered Islam. When he pledged his allegiance, the Prophet
changed his name to 'Abd ar-Rahman.

Nor was he the only new Muslim at this time. As the weeks and the
months passed it became more and more apparent why the Koran had
declared the truce to be a clear victory. The men of Mecca and Medina
could now meet in peace and converse freely together; and during the next
two years the community of Islam was more than doubled.

Soon after the return of the pilgrims a verse had been revealed at which
everyone rejoiced: It may be that God will establish love between you and
those with whom ye are at enmity,^ These words seemed to refer in general
to the many conversions which now took place. But they were also taken
by some to refer in particular to an unexpected close relationship which
was now to be established between the Prophet and one of the leaders of
Quraysh.

A few months before Hudaybiyah news had come from Abyssinia of the
death of *Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh, the Prophet's cousin and brother-in-law.
He had been a Christian before he entered Islam, and not long after his
emigration to Abyssinia he had reverted to Christianity. This had greatly
distressed his wife Umm Habibah, Abu Sufyan's daughter, who remained
a Muslim; and when four months had elapsed after the death of her
husband the Prophet sent a message to the Negus, asking him to stand
proxy for himself and to ratify a marriage between him and the widow, if
she were willing. To her the Prophet sent no message directly; but she had a
dream in which someone came to her and addressed her as "mother of the
faithful", and she interpreted this as meaning that she would become the
wife of the Prophet. The next day she received the message from the Negus
which confirmed her dream, whereupon she chose her kinsman Khalid ibn
Sa*id^ to give her in marriage, and he and the Negus solemnised the pact
between them in the presence of Ja*far and others of the brethren. Then the
Negus held a wedding feast in his palace, and all the Muslims were invited.

The Prophet had also sent word to Ja'far that it would please him if he
and his community would now come to live in Medina. Ja*far forthwith set
about making preparations for the journey, and the Negus gave them two

* LX, 70, * See p. 47.

x6o Muhammad

boats. It was decided that Umm Habibah should travel with them; and in
Medina work was begun on the building of an apartment for her next to
those of the other wives.

The Negus was not the only reigning prince to whom the Prophet sent a
letter at this time. When he had split the seemingly invincible rock in the
trench, he had seen the casdes of the Yemen by the light which had flared
from it at his first blow, whereas by the light which flared from his third
and final blow he had seen the white palace of Chosroes at Mada'in. As to
the certainty which had then been given him about the future spread of the
empire of Islam, there was a connection between these two lights inasmuch
as the Yemen was now under the rule of Persia; and the Prophet was
moved to write to the Persian monarch, informing him of his Prophethood
and summoning him to Islam. He may not have had much hopes of the
success of his message, but it was necessary to offer him the possibility of
making the right choice before any other action was taken.

As to the second of the three lights, it had revealed the castles of Syria,
and the Prophet had received from it the certainty of the spread of Islam to
those parts and also to the West. He now dictated a letter to Heraclius the
Roman Emperor in the same terms as the letter to Persia, and he sent it to
the governor of Syria. Another similar letter was sent to Alexandria, to the
Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt.

Meantime Chosroes had heard from other sources of the growing power
of the Arab king of Yathrib who claimed to be a Prophet. So he dispatched
an order to Badhan, his viceroy in the Yemen, asking for further and
clearer information about Muhammad, Badhan forthwith sent two en-
voys to Medina, so that they could see for themselves and bring him back
news. Following a fashion that was prevalent at the Persian court, they had
shaved their beards and grown long moustaches. Their appearance was
abhorrent to the Prophet. "Who bade you do this.^" he exclaimed. "Our
lord," they said, meaning Chosroes." "My Lord," said the Prophet, "hath
bidden me grow my beard and cut short my moustache." He sent them
away, telling them to return to him the next day. That night Gabriel told
him that on the same day there had been an uprising in Persia in which
Chosroes had been killed, and his son now reigned in his stead. So when
the envoys returned he told them of this, and bade them inform their
master the viceroy. Then he said: "Tell him that my religion and mine
empire will reach far beyond the kingdom of Chosroes; and say unto him
from me: Enter Islam, and I will confirm thee in what thou hast, and I will
appoint thee king over thy people in the Yemen."

They returned to San*a', not knowing what to think, and delivered the
message to Badhan, who said: "We will see what befalleth. If what he said
be true, then is he a Prophet whom God hath sent." But even before he had
had time to send a man to Persia to find out the truth of the matter, a
messenger arrived from Siroes, the new Shah, announcing what had
happened, and claiming their allegiance. Instead of replying, Badhan
entered Islam, and so did his two messengers and other Persians who were
with him. He then sent word to Medina, and the Prophet confirmed his
rule over the Yemen. That was the beginning of the fulfilment of what had
been revealed in the first flash of light from the trench.

A fterHudaybiyah z6i

The Prophet's letter reached Mada'in after the death of Chbsroes, so it
was delivered to his successor, whose sole answer was to tear it in pieces.
"Even so, O Lord, tear from him his kingdom," said the Prophet when he
heard of this.

In these same weeks after the return of the pilgrims there was an attack
on the Prophet's life by a means which had not yet been used against him.
In every generation of the Jews in Arabia there could be found one or two
adepts in the science of magic; and one of these was amongst the Jews still
Uving in Medina, Labid by name, an expert sorcerer who had also
instructed his daughters in the subtle art lest his own knowledge should die
with him. Labid now received a heavy bribe to put as deadly a spell as he
could upon the Prophet, For this purpose he needed some combings of his
hair, which he or one of his daughters contrived to procure, possibly
through the intermediary of an entirely innocent person. He tied eleven
knots in the hair, and his daughters breathed imprecations upon each knot.
Then he attached it to a sprig from a male date-palm which had on it the
outer sheath of the pollen, and threw it into a deep well. The spell could
only be undone by the untying of the knots.

The Prophet was soon aware that something was seriously wrong. On
the one hand his memory began to fail him, while on the other hand he
began to imagine that he had done things which in fact he had not done. He
was also overcome with weakness, and when food was pressed upon him
he could not bring himself to eat. He prayed God to cure him, and in his
sleep he was conscious of two persons, one sitting at his head and the other
at his feet. He heard one of them inform the other of the exact cause of his
infirmity and of the name of the well.^ When he woke Gabriel came to him,
and confirming his dream he gave him two surahs of the Koran, one of
which contains five verses and the other six. The Prophet sent 'All to the
well, telling him to recite over it the two surahs. At each verse one of the
knots untied itself until all were untied and the Prophet recovered his full
strength of mind and body.^

The first of the two surahs is:

Say: I take refuge in the Lord of daybreak
from the evil of that which He hath created,
and from the evil of dusk when it dimmeth into night,
and from the evil of the women who breathe upon knots,
and from the evil of the envier when he envieth?

The second is;

Say: I take refuge in the Lord of men.
The King of men,
the God of men,

from the evil of the stealthy whisperer,
who whispereth in the breasts of men;
from jinn and from menJ*

' B.UX, 10. 2 BaydawionK.CXIII,4. ' CXIII.

* CXIV. According to some authorities these two surahs which were recited on this
occasion were not then newly revealed but had been given to the Prophet in Mecca before the
Hijrah.

z6z Muhammad

These surahs are placed last of all in the Koran. They are called "the two
takings of refuge", and are recited continually for protection against all
manner of evil.

The Prophet ordered the well to be filled up and another to be dug near
at hand to replace it. He sent for Labid, who confessed to having placed the
spell upon him for the sake of a bribe, but he did not take any action
against him.

LXIX

Khaybar

THE truce with Mecca made it possible to concentrate on the dangers
which lay to the north. The greatest of these was the town of
Khaybar, occupied by Jews who were for the most part implacably
hostile to Islam. The sorcerer Labid had almost certainly been bribed from
there, though that could have been the work of an individual. But there
were far more evident and general reasons for taking action against the
exiled Bani Nadir and their Khaybarite kinsmen. Not that they were likely
to invade Yatlirib. Except for one or two men, they had not taken any
direct part in the campaign of the Trench, but it was they who had given
Quraysh every encouragement to attack, and it was their influence which
had induced their allies of Ghataf an to side with Quraysh on that occasion.
It was also largely through them that Ghatafan still remained virtually at
war with the oasis. Medina could never know any fullness of peace while
Khaybar remained as it was.

It had long been clear that something must be done, sooner or later, in
that direction; and now the time had come, for the Prophet was certain
that the near victory promised in the recent Revelation - a viaory which
would moreover be rich in spoils - could be nothing other than the
conquest of Khaybar. But this was not to be shared by all who professed
Islam. The Revelation made it clear that those Bedouin who had failed to
respond to his summons to make the Lesser Pilgrimage had been largely
prompted by mercenary motives. Since there was no hope of plunder on
the Pilgrimage, it was not worth the effort. They were therefore not to be
allowed to take part in the conquest of what was, without doubt, one of the
richest communities in all Arabia.

This meant setting off with a smaller force, though it had the advantage
that their plans could be kept secret until the last moment. But even when
the project became known, it was passed from mouth to mouth as a
pleasantry rather than a fact. The impregnable strength of Khaybar was
almost proverbial. Quraysh and the other enemies of Islam hoped that the
news was true because, if so, Muhammad would at last receive a crushing
defeat; but they feared it could not be true, for they knew he was not mad.
As for the men of Khaybar themselves their confidence was such that they
refused to believe it. They did not even trouble to ask their allies for help
until certain news came from Medina that Muhammad was about to set
forth. Only then did Kinanah, their virtual chief, make a speedy visit to
Ghatafan, offering them half the date harvest for that year if they would

164 Muhammad

send them reinforcements. They agreed to do so and promised a force of
four thousand men. The Jews of Khaybar were in the habit of donning
their armour every day and lining up their full strength of fighting men, ten
thousand in all. The help of Ghatafan would bring the number up to
fourteen thousand; and according to the news from Medina, the invading
army was of sixteen hundred men only.

Before the Prophet set out, one of the men of Aws known as Abu 'Abs
came to him with a problem. He had a camel to ride, but his clothes were in
rags and he had no means of procuring any provisions to take on the march
and nothing to leave for the upkeep of his family, let alone buying himself a
new garment. There were many others in similar circumstances, though
this was an extreme case. But much had been spent on the Pilgrimage, and
everything that had been gained so far in the way of spoil was outweighed
by the increasing number of poverty-stricken converts who came to
Medina from every direction. The Prophet gave Abu 'Abs a fine long cloak,
all that was available for the moment; but on the march, a day or two later,
he noticed that he had on a much poorer cloak and he asked him: "Where
is the cloak I gave thee?" "I sold it for eight dirhams," said Abu *Abs,
"Then I bought two dirhams worth of dates as provision for myself, and I
left two dirhams for my family to live on, and bought a cloak for four
dirhams." The Prophet laughed and said: "O father of 'Abs, thou and thy
companions are poor indeed. But by Him in whose hand is my soul, if ye
keep safe and live yet a litde while, ye shall have abundance of provisions
and leave abundantly for your families. Ye shall abound in dirhams and in
slaves; and it will not be good for you!"*

At one point on the march, between two camps, the Prophet halted his
army and called to a man of Aslam known as Ibn al-Akwa*, who had, as he
knew, a beautiful voice. "Dismount," he said, "and sing us a song of thy
camel-songs." The Bedouin would sing to their camels as they rode from
place to place. They would chant poems to old melodies, monotonous,
haunting and plaintive; and to the sadly serene cadences of one of these Ibn
al-Akwa' now chanted some words which the Prophet had taught them
while they were digging the trench:

"God, but for Thee we never had been guided,
Never had given alms, nor prayed Thy prayer."

So it began; and when he had finished the Prophet said to him: "God have
Mercy on thee," at which 'Umar protested: "Thou hast made it inevitable,
O Messenger of God. Would thou hadst let us enjoy him longer!" He
meant, as they all knew, that the Prophet had foretold his early martyr-
dom, for they had come by experience to conclude that when he invoked
Mercy upon anyone, that person had probably not long to live.

Within two and a half days they were only an evening's march from their
goal. It was now important to take up a position that would put them as a
barrier between Khaybar and her allies of Ghatafan. With this end in view
the Prophet asked for a guide and during the night they reached an open

' W.636.

Khaybar Z65

space in front of the walls. It was very dark, for the young crescent moon
had already set; and so quiet was their approach that no one stirred in the
town, and no domestic bird or beast gave the alert. Only at cockcrow was
the silence broken. The call to prayer was hushed that dawn in the Muslim
camp; and having prayed, they looked ahead of them in silence at this
"garden of the Hijaz" which the increasing light gradually revealed to
them as the fortresses began to loom up above the rich palm groves and
fields of corn. The sun rose, and when the land workers came out with their
spades and mattocks and baskets they were astonished to find themselves
face to face with a grimly silent army. "Muhammad and his host," they
cried, and fled back into their strongholds. ^*Alldhu Akbar!^^ said the
Prophet, adding, in triumphant play upon the letters of the name: Kharibat
Khaybar! (Khaybar is crushed!). Then he solemnly sealed its defeat by
reciting the revealed verse which says of the punishment of God: When it
alighteth in front of their dwellings, bad morning then to those who have
been warned! ^ But instead of saying it alighteth he said, "we alight."

The Jews held a hurried council of war. But despite the warning of one of
their chiefs they decided to trust to their battlements. There was no
comparison, they said, between the fortresses of Yathrib and their own
mountain citadels, as they liked to call them. This decision to fight in
separate groups was largely based on their greatest weakness, which was
lack of unity. What the Revelation had told the Prophet about the Jews of
Yathrib was also true of the Khaybarites: III feeling is rife amongst them.
Thou countest them as one whole, but their hearts are divided} It was their
misfortune to be now suddenly faced by an army which, though small, was
penetrated with the discipline implied in the revealed verse: Verily God
loveth those who fight for His cause in ranks as if they were a close-built
blocky an army of men whose souls delighted in the promise of the words:
How many a little band hath overcome a multitude by God's leave! And
God is with the steadfast^

On the first day when the Prophet attacked the nearest fortress, the
garrisons of the others did not march out in a body to attack the besiegers
but remained behind their own walls and busied themselves with streng-
thening their fortifications. These tactics reduced the disparity of numbers,
but they put the steadfastness of the Muslims to the test of a long campaign
on alien territory and many battles instead of one. The men of Khaybar
were amongst the most expert marksmen of Arabia. Never before had the
Muslims had such severe training in the use of their shields; and at the
outset of the campaign the women in the camp were kept busy treating
arrow wounds. Of the Prophet's wives the lot had fallen a second time in
succession to Umm Salamah; and amongst the other women who accom-
panied the army to tend the wounded and keep up the supply of water
behind the lines were the Prophet's aunt Safiyyah, Umm Ayman,
Nusaybah and Umm Sulaym, the mother of Anas.

For several days nothing was achieved; but on the sixth night, when
'Umar was in command of the watch, a spy was caught in the camp, and in
return for his life he gave them valuable information about the various

XXXVII, 177. ' UX,i4. ' LXI,4. ' llyZASi

266 Muhammad

fortresses, telling them which they could capture most easily and suggest-
ing that they should begin with one which was not well guarded and which
had a quantity of weapons stored in its spacious cellars, including some
engines of war that had been used in the past against other fortresses, for
like Yathrib Khaybar had often been plagued with civil discord. The next
day the fortress was taken and the engines brought out to be used in other
assaults, a ballista for hurling rocks and two testudos for bringing men up
to the walls beneath an impregnable roof so that they could breach an
entrance. Partly thanks to these engines, the easier fortresses fell one by
one. The first powerful resistance they encountered was at a stronghold
named Na'im. Here the garrison came out in great force, and on that day
every attack made by the Muslims was repulsed. "Tomorrow," said the
Prophet, "will I give the standard unto a man whom God and His
messenger love. God will give us the victory by his hands; he is not one who
turneth back in flight."

In his previous campaigns the Prophet had used relatively small flags as
standards. But to Khaybar he had brought a great black standard made
from a cloak of *A'ishah's. They called it "the Eagle", and this he now gave
to *Ali. Then he prayed tor him and his other Companions, that God
should give them the victory. After another day of fierce fighting, in which
Zubayr and the red-turbaned Abii Dujanah played an eminent part, *Ali
led his men in a final onslaught which drove back the garrison deep into
their stronghold, leaving the Muslims in command of the doors. The
fortress surrendered, but not before many of its men had escaped to other
fortresses through a back outlet.

"Where are the Bani Ghat.afan?" was a question that was being asked
throughout Khaybar, but not answered. They had in fact set out with an
army of four thousand men as promised. But after a day's march they had
heard during the night a strange voice - they did not know whether it came
from earth or heaven - and the voice cried out three times in succession:
"Your people ! Your people! Your people!", whereupon the men imagined
that their families were in danger, and hastened back whence they had
come, only to find everything in order. But having returned, they were
unwilling to set out a second time, partly because many of them were
convinced that they would now arrive too late to have a share in the defeat
of the enemy.

The most impregnable of the strongholds of Khaybar was known as the
Citadel of Zubayr. It crowned a high mass of rock with a steep approach to
the gates and sheer cliffs on all the other sides. -Most of the fighting men
who had escaped from the other fortresses had joined the citadel's
garrison, which remained firmly within the walls. The Prophet besieged
them for three days, and then a Jew from another stronghold came to him
and told him that they had a hidden resource which would enable them to
hold out almost indefinitely; and he offered to tell him the secret, on
condition that his life and property and family should be safe. The Prophet
agreed, and the man showed him where he could dig down to dam an
underground rivulet which flowed beneath the rocks of the citadel. They
had steps leading down to it from within, and since the stream was never
dry they kept no stores of water. So when it was cut off they were soon

Khaybar 2.67

driven by thirst to come out and fight, and after a savage battle they were
defeated.

The last of the strongholds to make any resistance was Qamus. This
belonged to the family of Kinanah, one of the richest and most powerful
clans of the Bani Nadir. Some of them had long lived in Khaybar whereas
others of the family, including Kinanah himself, had recently settled there
after they had been exiled from Yathrib. It was they especially who had
been counting on the help of Ghatafan, whose failure to keep their promise
had been an unnerving disappointment for them; and they were still
further demoralised by the bad news brought by all those fugitives who
had now crowded into Qamiis. They none the less held out for fourteen
days; then Kinanah sent word that he wished to come to terms with the
Prophet, who said he was willing to negotiate. So the chieftain came down
from the fortress with others of his family; and it was agreed that none of
the garrison should be put to death or made captive - neither they nor their
families - on condition that they should leave Khaybar and that all their
possessions should become the property of the victors. The Prophet then
added a further clause, namely that his obligation to spare their lives and
let them go free should be annulled with regard to anyone who might try to
conceal any of his possessions. Kinanah and the others agreed to this; and
the Prophet called on Abu Bakr, *Umar, *Ali and Zubayr and ten of the
Jews to witness the agreement.

But it soon became clear to both Jews and Muslims that much wealth
was being hidden. Where was the famed treasure of the Bani Nadir which
they had brought with them from Medina, and which they had so lavishly
displayed in their procession through its streets? The Prophet questioned
Kinanah about this, and he replied that since their arrival in Khaybar the
treasure had all been sold to pay for more arms and armour and fortifica-
tions. The Jews knew that he was lying, and were all the more apprehensive
because many of them now believed themselves to be in the presence of a
Prophet. They held that they had no need to follow him, because he had
not been sent to them; but it would be clearly vain to try to deceive him.
One of them, who had Kinanah's welfare at heart, went to him and begged
him to hide nothing, for if he did the Prophet would certainly be informed
of it. Kinanah angrily rebuked him; but within less than a day the treasure
was discovered, and Kinanah was put to death together with a cousin of his
who was found to be privy to the concealment. Their families were made
captive.

After the fall of Qamiis the two remaining fortresses surrendered on the
same terms. Then the Jews of Khaybar consulted together, and sent a
deputation to the Prophet, suggesting that since they were skilled in the
management of their farms and their orchards he should allow them to
remain in their homes, and they would pay him a yearly rent of half the
produce. To this the Prophet agreed; but he stipulated that if in the future
he decided to banish them they must go. It was then rumoured that the
Muslims intended to extend their campaign to Fadak, a small but rich oasis
to the north-east; and when the Jews of Fadak heard of the terms that had
been imposed upon Khaybar they sent word offering to surrender on the
same conditions. Fadak thus became the property of the Prophet, as did

z6S Muhammad

every other asset which had not been acquired by force of arms.

When all the terms had been agreed upon, and when the victorious army
had rested, the widowed wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam roasted a lamb and
poisoned every part of it with a deadly poison which she concentrated
especially in the shoulders, having learnt on inquiry that the Prophet
preferred the shoulder of lamb to the other joints. Then she brought it to
the camp and set it before him, whereupon he thanked her and invited
those of his Companions who were present to sup with him.

It happened on this occasion that seated next to the Prophet was a
Khazrajite named Bishr, the son of that Bara' who had led the MusHms of
Yathrib to the Second ' Aqabah and who had been the first ever to pray the
ritual prayer in the direction of Mecca. When the Prophet took a mouthful
of lamb, Bishr did the same and swallowed it, but the Prophet spat out
what was in his mouth, saying to the others: "Hold off your hands! This
shoulder proclaimeth unto me that it is poisoned." He sent for the woman
and asked her if she had poisoned the joint. **Who told thee.''*' she asked.
"The shoulder itself," said the Prophet. "What made thee do it?" "Well
thou knowest," she said, "what thou hast done unto my people; and thou
hast slain my father and mine uncle and my husband. So I told myself: 'If he
be a king, I shall be well quit of him; and if he be a Prophet he will be
informed of the poison.' " The face of Bishr was already ashen pale, and he
died shortly afterwards. But the Prophet none the less pardoned the
woman.'

She was not the only woman who had lost a father and a husband at the
hands of the Muslims. Among the captives taken as a result of Kinanah*s
hiding the treasure was his widow Safiyyah, the daughter of that Huyayy
who had persuaded the Bani Qurayzah to break their treaty with the
Prophet, and who had been put to death with them after the Battle of the
Trench. She was seventeen years old and had only married Kinanah a
month or two before the Prophet set out from Medina. The marriage,
while it lasted, had not been a happy one. Unlike her father and her
husband, Safiyyah was of a deeply pious nature. From her earliest years she
had heard her people talk of the Prophet who was soon to come, and this
had filled her imagination. Then they had spoken of an Arab in Mecca, a
man of Quraysh, who claimed to be that Prophet; and then came the news
that he had arrived at Quba'. That was seven years ago, when she was a
child of ten; and she well remembered her father and her uncle setting
confidently out for Quba* in order to reassure themselves that the man was
an impostor; but what had imprinted itself on her memory above all was
their return late at night, both in a state of extreme dejection. It was clear
from what they said that they believed the newcomer to be the promised
Prophet, but that they intended to oppose him; and her young mind was
puzzled.^

Soon after her marriage, and not long before the Prophet arrived in front
of Khaybar, she had had a dream. She saw a brilliant moon hanging in the
sky, and she knew that beneath it lay the city of Medina. Then the moon
began to move towards Khaybar, where it fell into her lap. When she woke

' B.U,z8. ' U. 354-5.

Khaybar 169

she told Kinanah what she had seen in her sleep, whereupon he struck her a
blow in the face and said: "This can only mean that thou desirest the King
of the Hijaz, Muhammad." The mark of the blow was still visible when she
was brought as captive to the Prophet. He asked her what had caused it,
and she told him of her dream. Now Dihyah' of the Bani Kalb, who had
entered Islam shordy after Badr, had asked that Safiyyah should be given
him as his share of the booty of Khaybar, or as part of his share, and the
Prophet had agreed; but on hearing her dream he sent to Dihyah and told
him he must take her cousin instead. He then told Safiyyah that he was
prepared to set her free, and he offered her the choice between remaining a
Jewess and returning to her people or entering Islam and becoming his
wife. *'I choose God and His Messenger," she said; and they were married
at the first halt on the homeward march.

The campaign was not yet finished, for mstead of returning by the direct
way they had come, the Prophet turned a little to the west and besieged the
Jews of Wadi l-Qura in their fortresses. They had been in league with
Khaybar; and after three days they surrendered on the same terms.

Ibn al-Akwa*, the Aslamite who had sung to them on their northward
march, had been killed at Khaybar during the attack upon the Citadel. His
own sword had somehow turned against him and given him a mortal
wound, and one of the Helpers remarked that he could not be counted as a
martyr. "He lieth who so sayeth," said the Prophet. "Verily he passeth
through the Gardens of Paradise as freely as a swimmer passeth through
water. "^Another question about martyrdom arose at Wadi 1-Qura, where
the Prophet's black slave Karkarah was killed by an arrow as he was
unsaddling a camel. But the Prophet answered: "He is burning even now in
Hell beneath a cloak whic^h he stole at Khaybar and which hath become a
cloak of flames."^

It was his wont to warn them continually that the privilege of living with
him in his community brought with it a grave responsibility, for God was
Just and would judge them more severely than those who lived in worse
ages when it was more difficult to resist evil. He said: "Verily ye are in an
age when whoso omitteth one tenth of the law shall be doomed. But there
will come an age when whoso fulfilleth one tenth of the law shall be
saved."*

' He was a man of great beauty, and the Prophet said of him: "The most like unto Gabriel
of any man I have seen is Dihyah al-Kalbi," I.S. IV, 1 84.
1 W.662. ^ 1.1. 76^. 4 Tir.XXXI,79.

LXX

"Whom Lovest
Thou Mostr

WHEN the victorious army reached Medina after their seven
weeks' absence they found that Ja*far and his companions were
already there. He had left for Abyssinia at the age of twenty-
seven and was now a man of forty. He had not seen the Prophet for thirteen
years, though they had been in constant communication. The Prophet
clasped him to him and kissed him between the eyes. Then he said: "I know
not for which of the two my rejoicing is greater, for the advent of Ja*far
or for the v ictory of Khaybar," With Ja'far was his wife Asma' and their
three sons, *Abd Allah, Muhammad and *Awn, who had been born in
Abyssinia.

With him also was Umm Habibah, whose apartment was ready to
receive her, and a second marriage feast was held to celebrate her union
with the Prophet. She was now about thirty- five years old. The other wives,
all except *A'ishah, had known her in Mecca. She was, moreover, the
sister-in-law of Zaynab, and Sawdah and Umm Salamah had been her
close companions in their early days together in Abyssinia. Her coming
had been expected, and caused little stir. An object of much greater
concern to the wives was the unexpected addition to their household, the
young and beautiful Safiyyah. On their arrival in Medina the Prophet
lodged her temporarily in one of the houses of the ever-hospitable
Harithah; and hearing of her beauty, *A*ishah sent to Umm Salamah to ask
her about their new companion. "She is beautiful indeed," said Umm
Salamah, "and the Messenger of God loveth her much." *A'ishah went to
the house of yarithah and entered with the throng of women who were
visiting the new bride. She herself was veiled, and without revealing her
identity she remained somewhat in the background, but close enough to
see for herself that what Umm Salamah had said was true. Then she left the
house, but the Prophet who was there had recognised her, and following
her out he said: "O 'A'ishah, how didst thou find her "I saw in her," said
*A'ishah, "a Jewess like any other Jewess." "Say not so," said the Prophet,
"for she hath entered Islam and made good her Islam."

None the less, Safiyyah was particularly vulnerable amongst the wives
on account of her father. "O daughter of Huyayy", in itself a respectful
address, could be changed by the tone of voice into an insult, and on one

"Whom Lovest Thou Most^" 27 1

occasion she came to the Prophet in tears because one of her new
companions had tried to make her feel inferior. He said: "Say unto them:
my father is Aaron, and mine uncle is Moses/'

Of all the wives Safiyyah was the nearest in age to 'A'ishah, nearer even
than Hafsah, who was now twenty-two. This had increased 'A'ishah*s
fears at first; but as the weeks passed the two youngest wives found a
certain sympathy for each other, and Hafsah likewise befriended the
newcomer. '*We were two groups," said *A'ishah in after years, "in one
myself and Hafsah and Safiyyah and Sawdah, and in the other Umm
Salamah and the rest of the wives."

'A'ishah was at that time in her sixteenth year, old for her age in some
respects but not in others. Her feelings were always clear from her face,
and nearly always from her tongue. On one occasion the Prophet said to
her: "O 'A'ishah, it is not hidden from me when thou art angered against
me, nor yet when thou art pleased." "O dearer than my father and my
mother," she said, "how knowest thou that?" "When thou art pleased,"
he said, "thou sayst in swearing 'Nay, by the Lord of Muhammad', but
when thou art angered it is *Nay, by the Lord of Abraham*."^ On another
occasion, when the Prophet came to her somewhat later than she had
expected, she said to him: "Where hast thou been this day until now?" "O
little fair one," he said, "I have been with Umm Salamah." "Hast thou not
had thy fill of Umm Salamah?" she said; and when he smiled without
answering, she added: "O Messenger of God, tell me of thyself. If thou
wert between the two slopes of a valley, one of which had not been grazed
whereas the other had been grazed, on which wouldst thou pasture thy
flocks?" "On that which had not been grazed," said the Prophet. "Even
so," she said; "and I am not as any other of thy wives. Every woman of
them had a husband before thee, except myself." The Prophet smiled and
said nothing.^

*A'ishah knew well that she could not have the Prophet for herself alone.
She was one woman, and he was as twenty men. The Revelation had said of
him: Verily of an immense magnitude is thy nature. It was as if he were a
whole world in himself, comparable to the outer world and in some ways
mysteriously one with it. She had often noticed that if there was a roll of
thunder, even in the distance, his face would change colour; the sound of a
powerful gust of wind would likewise visibly move him; and on at least one
occasion when there was a downpour of rain he bared his head and
shoulders and breast and went out into the open so that he might share the
delight of the earth in receiving the bounty of heaven directly upon his skin.

'A'ishah was not any the less jealous by reason of his difference from
other men; but she knew that jealousy, unlike love, was for this Ufe only.
Speaking of Paradise, the Revelation had promised more than once: And
we remove whatever there may be of rancour in their breasts,^ One day she
said to the Prophet: "O Messenger of God, who are thy wives in Para-
dise?" "Thou art of them," he said, and she treasured these words for the
rest of her life, as also his having said to her once: "Gabriel is here and he

' I.S.VIII,47. ' I.S.VIII,55. ' VII, 42; XV, 47.

272. Muhammad

giveth thee his greetings of Peace." "Peace be upon him, and the Mercy of
God and His Blessings!" she had answered.*

Of her jealousy she would say in after-years: "I was not jealous of any
other wife of the Prophet as I was jealous of Khadijah, for his constant
mentioning of her and because God had bidden him give her good tidings
of a mansion in Paradise of precious stones. And whensoever he sacrificed
a sheep, he would send a goodly portion of it unto those who had been her
intimate friends. Many a time said I unto him: It is as if there had never
been any other woman in the world, save only Khadijah."^

*A'ishah's perceptions and reactions were exceedingly quick. Soon after
Khaybar, or perhaps a little before it, Halah the mother of Abu l-*As had
come on a visit to Medina to see her son and daughter-in-law Zaynab and
her little granddaughter Umamah; and one day when the Prophet was in
'A'ishah's apartment there was a knock on the door, and a woman's voice
was heard asking if she might enter. The Prophet turned pale and
trembled; and immediately divining the cause, *A'ishah was overwhelmed
by a wave of jealousy and scolded him; for she knew that in the voice of
Halah he had heard the voice of her sister Khadijah. He confirmed this
afterwards, and said that also her manner of asking to enter had been the
same as that of his dead wife.^

Sawdah, now grown somewhat elderly, gave her day with the Prophet to
'A'ishah because she felt sure that this would gready please him; and the
rest of the community, including the other wives, had no doubt that of
those wives now living it was *A'ishah that the Prophet loved most. This
was not mere conjecture, since from time to time, by one or another of his
Companions, he would be asked the question: "O Messenger of God,
whom lovest thou most in all the world?" And although he did not always
give the same answer to this question, inasmuch as he felt great love in
more than one direction - for his daughters and their children, for * All, for
Abu Bakr, for Zayd and Usamah - the answer was sometimes *A'ishah but
never one of the other wives. For this reason it was becoming the custom in
Medina that if a man had a favour to ask of the Prophet, and if he was
offering him a gift with a view to his petition as the Koran recommended,
he would postpone the offering until the Prophet was in *A'ishah's
apartment on the assumption that he was then at his happiest and
therefore at his readiest to grant favour. This caused ill feeling in the
household of the Prophet, and Umm Salamah went to him on behalf of
herself and the others asking him to make an announcement that anyone
wishing to give him a present should do so without waiting until it was his
day to be in a particular house. The Prophet did not answer her, and she
asked him a second time, and again he remained silent. Then she asked him
a third time, and he said: 'Trouble me not with regard unto 'A'ishah, for
verily the Revelation cometh not unto me when I am beneath the coverlet
of a wife, except that wife be *A*ishah."* Umm Salamah said: "I repent
unto God for my having troubled thee." But others of the wives were not
content to stop there and they sent to Fatimah and asked her to intervene
on their behalf and to say to him: "Thy wives adjure thee by God to give

' I.S.VII,ss. ' B.l.XlII,zo. 3 ibid. 4 B.U,8.

"Whom Lovest Thou Mostf" 173

them justice in respect of the daughter of Abu Bakr." Fatimah reluctantly
agreed to this, but put off doing it for some days until finally her cousin
Zaynab, the daughter of Jahsh, came to her and insisted. So she went to her
father and said what she had been asked to say. "My little daughter," said
the Prophet, "lovest thou not what I love.^" And when she assented he said:
"Then love her" ~ meaning 'A*ishah. Then he said: "It was Zaynab who
sent thee, was it not?" "Zaynab and the others," said Fatimah. "I swear,"
said the Prophet, "it was she who set this afoot." And when Fatimah
admitted it, he smiled.

She returned to the wives and recounted what had happened. "O
daughter of God's Messenger," they said, "thou hast availed us nothing!"
They pressed her to go a second time, but she refused, so they said to
Zaynab "Go thou," and she went to the Prophet, who finally told *A'ishah
to speak to her, and she produced arguments against which Zaynab could
say nothing. The Prophet was bound to be just and equitable towards his
wives, and to encourage others to follow his example; but he was not
responsible for the equity of others towards his own wives. Nor would his
sensitivity have allowed him to interfere; it was for him to receive a present
with thanks, and to leave all else to the donor. When Zaynab had gone he
said to *A'ishah: "Thou art indeed the daughter of Abu Bakr."'

Jealousy was inevitable in the Prophet's household, and he did his best to
make light of it. Once he came into a room where his wives and others of
his family were assembled, and in his hand was an onyx necklace which
had just been given him. Holding it out to them he said: "I shall give this
unto her whom I love best of all." Some of the wives began to whisper
wryly to each other: "He will give it to the daughter of Abu Bakr." But
when he had kept them long enough in suspense, he called his little
granddaughter Umamah to him and clasped it round her neck.

He was no less fond of his grandsons, the sons of All and Fatimah. "The
dearest unto me of the people of my house are Hasan and Husayn," he
would say. Us amah was counted also as a grandson, and more than once
the Prophet took him and Hasan each by a hand and prayed: "O God, I
love them, love them Thou!" ^

B.U,8;I.S.VIII,i23. 2 I.S.IV/1,43.

LXXI

After Khaybar

HE campaign of Khaybar was followed by six relatively small

expeditions two of which, under 'Umar and Abu Bakr respectively,

JL were against hostile clans of the tribe of Hawazin whose territory
blocked the main approach to the Yemen. The others were to the east and
the north, against clans of Ghatafan. Two of these were against the Bani
Murrah, whose territory adjoined the oasis of Fadak, which now belonged
to the Prophet. Reduced to being his tenants, the Jews of Fadak required
protection against the Bedouin; but the strength of these marauders was
underestimated in Medina, so that only thirty men were sent on the first
expedition, and they were nearly all killed. The Prophet immediately sent
out a second force of two hundred, and the enemy were put to flight with
considerable loss of life. There were also some captives taken, as well as
camels and sheep. The seventeen-year-old Usamah was allowed to take
part in this expedition. He had been with the army behind the Trench, but
this was his first campaign in the fullest sense. During the encounter, a man
of Murrah mocked at him on account of his youth. He soon had reason to
regret it. Already bent on showing his mettle, Usamah was now goaded to
fury and pursued the man far into the desert despite the orders given before
the battle that they should all keep together; He finally caught up with him
and wounded him, whereupon the Murrite shouted Id ildha Hid Llah, there
is no god but God. But despite this testification of Islam, Usamah dealt him
the death-blow.

The commander of the expedition was Ghalib ibn 'Abd Allah ;^ and one
of his first thoughts after the battle was: "Where is Usamah?" He and every
other man in the army knew of the Prophet's great love for the son of Zayd;
and despite the victory it was to an exceedingly troubled camp that
Usamah returned, one hour after nightfall. Ghalib sternly rated him. "I
went after a man who was scoffing at me," said the youth, "and when I had
come up with him and had fleshed him, he said Id ildha ilia Llah.^'
"Whereupon thou didst sheathe thy sword?" said Ghalib. "Nay," said
Usamah, "not until I had made him drink the draught of death." At that
the whole camp thundered abuse, and he buried his head in his hands,
overcome with shame. Nor could he bring himself to eat any food during
the march home. There had been a Revelation which the older men well
knew in connection with one or two cases where a believer had been about

' Of the Bani Layth, a clan of Kinanah.

After Khaybar 2.75

to kill a disbeliever, who had then professed Islam; and exasperated at the
idea of losing the spoils of armour and weapons which he had thought
were his, the victor had said "Thou art not a believer," and had killed him.
In Usamah's case the motive had been honour not spoils, but the principle
was the same. The revealed verse was: O ye who believe, when ye fight in
the way of God, discriminate, nor say unto him who proffereth you peace:
"Thou art not a believer, " seeking the gains of this lower life, for with God
are spoils in plenty. Thus were ye wont to be aforetime, but God hath sent
down His Grace upon you. Therefore discriminate. Verily God is In-
formed of what ye do.^

As soon as they reached Medina Usamah went to the Prophet, who
fondly embraced him. Then he said: "Now tell me of thy campaign." So
Usamah told him all that had happened since they had set out, and when
he reached the point where he had killed the man, the Prophet said: "Didst
thou, O Usamah, slay him when he had said la ildha ilia Llah} "O
Messenger of God," he answered, "he did but say it to escape from being
slain." "And so," said the Prophet, "thou didst split open his heart to
know if he spake the truth or if he lied!" "Never again will I slay any man
who saith la ildha ilia Llah,'' said Usamah. And he would say afterwards:
"I wished that I had only entered Islam on that day."^ For the Prophet had
affirmed that the entry into the religion effaces the guilt of all past sins.

After his return from Khaybar the Prophet himself stayed in Medina for
nine months. Despite the lesser campaigns, the truce to the south and the
victory to the north made these months a time of relative peace and
prosperity, though the wealth which had been won from the Garden of the
Hijaz gave rise also to certain problems.

'Umar came one morning to the house of the Messenger, and as he
approached he heard the sound of women's voices raised to a pitch which
he considered to be unseemly in the prophetic presence. The women were
moreover of Quraysh, that is, of the Emigrants, which confirmed his
opinion that they were learning bad ways from the women of Medina who
for generations had been less restrained and more self-assertive than the
women of Mecca. The Prophet hated to refuse a request, as well they knew,
and they were now asking him with some insistence to give them various
garments which had come to him as part of his fifth in the spoils of war.
There was a curtain spread across part of the room, and when 'Umar's
voice was heard asking permission to enter there was a sudden total silence
and the women hid themselves behind the curtain with such speed that he
entered to find the Prophet speechless with laughter. "May God fill thy life
with laughter, O Messenger of God," he said. "Wondrous it was," said the
Prophet, "how these women who were with me even now — how speedily
upon hearing thy voice they were gone behind that curtain!" "It is rather
thy right, not mine, that they should stand in awe of thee, not of me," said
'Umar. Then, addressing the women, he said: "O enemies of yourselves,
fear ye me, and fear ye not God's Messenger?" "It is even so," they said,
"for thou art rougher and harsher than God's Messenger." "That is true,
O son of Khattab," said the Prophet. Then he added: "By Him in whose

IV, 94. ' W.7M.

276 Muhammad

hand is my soul, if Satan found that thou wert travelling upon a certain
path, he would choose to go himself by any other path but thine."^

The newly won wealth and the consequent easing of the situation
encouraged even Umm Ayman to ask the Prophet for a favour. She had
long felt the need of a camel that she could call her own; and now she went
to him and asked him to give her a mount. He looked at her seriously and
said: "I will mount thee on the child of a camel." "O Messenger of God,"
she exclaimed, thinking that he meant a calf, "that is not meet for me. I
want it not." "I will not mount thee," he said *'save on the child of a
camel. And so the altercation continued until a smile on the Prophet's
face made her realise that he was teasing her and that every camel is
necessarily the child of a camel.

On another day, however, 'Umar found the Prophet in less good
humour, with his head resting on his hand which was against his cheek. "O
*Umar," he said, '*they ask of me that which I have not." He had said on his
way to Khaybar, speaking of the increase of riches that the promised
victory would bring to Medina: "It will not be good for you." It was as he
had said, and this appHed to his own household as well as to others. Until
then the Prophet and his family had lived a life of the utmost frugality.
* A'ishah said that before Khaybar she had not known what it was to eat her
fill of dates. Such was the poverty of their ever-increasing dependants that
the Prophet's wives had only asked him for what they needed, and not
always that. Things that could be dispensed with were given away, or else
sold so that the money could be charitably spent. But the Prophet now had
the pleasure of giving presents to his wives, and they for their part were not
slow in learning to ask for more, which sometimes created problems,
because equity demanded that what was given to one must be given to all.

At the same time they began to take advantage of his indulgence in other
ways. One day *Umar rebuked his wife for something and she sharply
answered him back: and when he expostulated with her she replied that
the wives of the Prophet were in the habit of answering him back so why
should she not do the same. "And there is one of them," she added,
meaning their daughter, "who speaketh unto him her mind unabashed
from morn till night." Greatly troubled by this, *Umar went to Hafsah,
who did not deny that what her mother had said was true. "Thou hast
neither the grace of *A'ishah nor the beauty of Zaynab," he said, hoping to
shake her self-confidence; and when these words seemed to have no effect,
he added: "Art thou so sure that if thou angerest the Prophet, God will not
destroy thee in His anger ?"^ Then he went to his cousin Umm Salamah and
said: "Is it true that ye speak your minds unto God's Messenger and
answer him without respect?" "By all that is wonderful," said Umm
Salamah, "what call hast thou to come between God's Messenger and his
wives ? Yea, by God, we speak unto him our minds, and if he suffer us to do
so that is his affair, and if he forbid us he will find us more obedient unto
him than we are unto thee.'"* 'Umar felt that he had gone too far, and that
the reproof was just; but there could be no doubt that all was not well in
the Prophet's household.

' B.LXn,6. 2 I.S. VIII, 163. 3 I.S.Vin,i3i. ^ i.s.VIlI,i37.

After Khaybar 277

The relatively sudden redress which now took place was partly due to an
altogether unexpected event. The Prophet's letter to the Muqawqis,
summoning him to Islam, was answered evasively; but with his answer the
ruler of Egypt sent a rich present of a thousand measures of gold, twenty
robes of fine cloth, a mule, a she-ass and, as the crown of the gift, two
Coptic Christian slave girls escorted by an elderly eunuch. The girls were
sisters, Mariyah and Sirin, and both were beautiful, but Mariyah was
exceptionally so, and the Prophet marvelled at her beauty. He gave Sirin to
Hassan ibn Thabit, and lodged Mariyah in the nearby house where
Safiyyah had lived before her apartment adjoining the Mosque was built.
There he would visit her both by day and by night; but his wives became so
openly jeajous that she was unhappy, and he then lodged her in Upper
Medina. 'A*ishah and the others were at first relieved, but they soon found
that they had gained nothing. For the Prophet did not visit Mariyah any the
less often, and the added distance meant that his absences were even longer
than before.

They well knew that he was altogether within his rights - rights which
had been recognised from the time of Abraham and before. Were they not
all, except Safiyyah, descended from the union of Abraham with the
bondmaid Hagar? Moreover, the law revealed to Moses had corroborated
such rights, and the Koran itself expressly allowed a master to take his
bondmaid as concubine on condition of her free consent. But the wives
also knew that the Prophet was exceedingly sensitive, and they saw to it
that his whole domestic life was now penetrated by their deliberately
undisguised reactions. In particular Haf sah gave vent to such feeling that
the Prophet was finally induced to swear that he would not see Mariyah
again, and 'A*ishah was Haf sah*s accomplice on this occasion.

The Revelation which now came is known as the Surah of Banning^
because it opens with a reproof to the Prophet for having banned Mariyah
from his life: O Prophet why bannest thou, to please thy wives, that which
God hath made lawful unto theef Then, having formally absolved him
from his oath, it addresses Haf sah and *A*ishah, though not byname: If ye
twain repent unto God ye have cause, for your hearts were set upon the
ban; and if ye aid each the other against him, verily God, even He, is his
Protecting Friend, and Gabriel, and the elect of the faithful; and beyond
these, the angels are massed to help him. The next verse is addressed to all
the wives: It may be, if he divorce you, that his Lord will give him wives in
your stead who are better than you, submissive unto God, believing,
devout, penitent, inclined unto worship and fasting, widows and virgin
maids.

The Surah ends with examples from sacred history of two evil women
and two women who were perfect:

God citeth as example for those who disbelieve, the wife of Noah and
the wife of Lot. They were under two righteous men from amongst Our
slaves, men whom they betrayed and who thus availed them naught
against God; and it was said unto both: Enter ye the fire with them who
enter it.

' LXVI.

zjS Muhammad

And God citeth as example for those who believe the wife of Pharaoh
when she said: "My Lord, build for me a dwelling with Thee in Paradise,
and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds, and save me from the people
who transgress''; and Mary, the daughter of'Imran, who kept chaste her
womb and We breathed therein of Our Spirit, And she testified to the
truth of the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of those who
are absorbed in prayer.

When he had recited this Revelation to his wives, the Prophet left them
to meditate upon it, and withdrew to a roofed verandah which was the
only room he had but for their apartments. News spread throughout
Medina that he had divorced his wives, and it came to the ears of 'Umar
that night. At dawn he went as usual to the Mosque, but immediately after
the prayer, before 'Umar could address him, the Prophet withdrew to his
porch. 'Umar went to Hafsah and found her in tears. "Why weepest
thou?" he said, adding before she could answer: "Did I not tell thee this
would happen? Hath God's Messenger divorced you?" "I know not," she
said, "but he is there, secluded by himself in that porch." Its entrance was
from the Mosque, to which 'Umar now returned. There were gathered a
group of men, sitting round the pulpit. Some of them were in tears; *Umar
sat with them for a while and then unable to endure his feelings he went to
the door of the porch where a black Abyssinian boy, a servant of the
Prophet, was standing. "Ask permission for 'Umar to enter," he said to the
boy, who went in and then came out after a moment saying: "I mentioned
thee to him, but he was silent." 'Umar returned to where he had been
sitting. Then he went again to ask if he might enter, and again he was told
that the Prophet had made no response. This happened yet a third time;
but just as 'Umar had turned away the boy called out to him that the
Prophet had said he might enter. 'Umar went in and found him reclining on
a rush mat. His back, which was partly bare, showed clearly the marks of
the matting where it had pressed against his skin. A leather cushion, stuffed
with palm fibre, was at his side, and on this he was leaning. His eyes were
downcast, and he did not look at 'Umar as he entered. "O Messenger of
God," said 'Umar, "hast thou divorced thy wives?" The Prophet raised his
eyes to 'Umar's. "Nay, I have not," he said. ''Alldhu Akbarf' exclaimed
'Umar, in a voice which could be heard in all the neighbouring houses.
Umm Salamah said afterwards: "1 was weeping, and when anyone came
unto me they said 'Hath God's Messenger divorced thee?' and I said 'By
God, I know not.' This continued until 'Umar came to the Prophet. We
heard his magnification - we were all in our apartments - and we knew
that the Messenger of God had answered 'Nay' to his question." There was
in fact only one question in anybody's mind, and they were certain that
'Umar would be especially preoccupied with it on account of his daughter.

"I stood there," said 'Umar, "feeling my way with the Messenger of God
as to what was his state, and I said: 'We were used to having, we men of
Quraysh, the upper hand over our wives, but when we came to Medina we
came unto a people whose wives have the upper hand over them.' " He saw
a suggestion of a smile cross the Prophet's face, so he went on to tell him
what he had previously said to Hafsah by way of warning, and again the

After Khaybar Z79

Prophet smiled, whereupon he ventured to sit down. Once more he was
struck by the bareness of the room - a mat on the floor, three leather
cushions, and nothing else. He suggested that the Prophet should allow
himself more luxury, and by way of contrast he mentioned the Greeks and
the Persians, but he was cut short with the words: "Art thou in any doubt,
O son of Khattab? Their good things have been hastened on for them in
tliis their earthly life."

It was now the time of the new moon, and the Prophet let it be known to
his wives that he did not wish to see any of them until the month had
passed. When the moon had altogether waned, he went first to ' A'ishah's
apartment. Delighted to see him, yet surprised, she said to him: "It is but
twenty-nine nights." "How dost thou know?" he asked, and she
answered: "I have been counting them - how I have counted them!" "But
this was a month of twenty-nine," he said. She had forgotten that a lunar
month is sometimes only twenty-nine days instead of thirty. He then told
her of another Revelation he had received, which made it necessary for him
to put before her a choice between two possibilities. He said he had asked
her father to help him by counselling her in this matter. "Nay," said
*A'ishah, "none shall help thee with regard to me. But tell me what it is, O
Messenger of God." He answered saying: "God putteth before thee this
choice," and then he recited the newly revealed verses: O Prophet, say
unto thy wives: If ye desire this lower life and its adornments, then come
and I will bestow its goods upon you, and I will release you with a fair
release. But if ye desire God and His messenger and the abode of the
Hereafter, then verily God hath laid in store for you a meed immense, for
such of you as do good.^ She said: "Verily I desire God and His messenger
and the abode of the Hereafter.''^ And there was not one of his wives who
did not say the same.

» XXVIII, 18-9.

LXXII

The Lesser
Pilgrimage and
its Aftermath

THE months drew on until almost a year had passed since the signing
of the treaty of Hudaybiyah. It was now time to set off for Mecca in
accordance with the promise of Quraysh that the Prophet and his
Companions should have safe access to the Holy Precinct in order to
perform the rite of the Lesser Pilgrimage. There were about two thousand
pilgrims in all, including the would-be pilgrims of the previous year, except
for a few who had died or been killed in battle. Amongst those who had not
been at Hudaybiyah was Abu Hurayrah, a man of the Bani Daws.^ He had
arrived in Medina with others of his tribe during the campaign of Khaybar,
and being destitute he had joined the People of the Bench. On entering
Islam his name had been changed to *Abd ar-Rahman, but he was always
known as Abu Hurayrah, "the kitten man", literally "the father of a
kitten", because like the Prophet he was very fond of cats and often had a
kitten to play with. He soon found favour with the Prophet, who on this
occasion put him in charge of some of the sacrificial camels.

When they heard that the pilgrims had reached the edge of the sacred
territory, Quraysh vacated the whole of the hollow of Mecca and with-
drew to the tops of the surrounding hills. The chiefs of Quraysh were
gathered together on Mount Abu Kubays, from which they could look
down into the Mosque. They also had a wide view of the surrounding
country; and now they saw the pilgrims emerge in a long file from the
north-western pass which leads down into the valley just below the city.
Their ears soon caught an indistinct murmur which quickly became
distinguishable as the age-old pilgrim's cry: Labbayk Allahumma Lab-
bayk. Here I am, O God, at Thy service.

The long procession of bare-headed, white-robed men was led by the
Prophet mounted on Qaswa', with *Abd Allah ibn Rawahah on foot,
holding the bridle. Of the others some were on camelback and some on
foot. They made straight for the Holy House by the nearest way. Each man

' See pp. 54-5.

The Lesser Pilgrimage and its Aftermath 28 1

was wearing his upper garment as a cloak, but at the entrance to the
Mosque the Prophet adjusted his, passing it under his right arm, leaving
the shoulder bare, and crossing the two ends over the left shoulder so that
they hung down back and front. The others followed his example. Still
mounted, he rode to the south-east corner of the Ka'bah and reverently
touched the Black Stone with his staff. Then he made the seven circuits of
the House, after which he withdrew to the foot of the little hill of Safa, and
passed to and fro between it and the hill of Marwah, seven courses in all,
ending at Marwah, to which many of the sacrificial animals had now been
led. There he sacrificed a camel, and his head was shaved by Khirash, who
had done the same for him at Hudaybiyah. This completed the rite of the
Lesser Pilgrimage.

He then returned to the Mosque, intending to enter the Holy House,
cluttered with idols though it was. But the doors were locked, and the key
was with a member of the clan of 'Abd ad-Dar. The Prophet sent a man to
ask for it, but the chiefs of Quraysh replied that this was not in their
agreement, the entry into the House not being part of the Pilgrimage rite.
So none of the Muslims entered it that year; but when the sun had reached
its zenith the Prophet told Bilal to go up to the roof of the Ka*bah and make
the call to prayer. His resonant voice filled the whole valley of Mecca and
floated up to the tops of the hills, first with the magnification, then with the
two testifications of Islam: *'l bear witness that there is no god but God. I
bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." From Abu
Kubays the chiefs of Quraysh could plainly distinguish Bilal, and they were
outraged at the sight of the black slave on the roof of the Holy House. But
above all they were conscious that this was a triumph for the enemy which
might have incalculable repercussions, and they bitterly regretted having
signed the treaty, which a year ago had seemed to be in their favour.

The pilgrims spent three days in the evacuated city. The Prophet's tent
was pitched in the Mosque. During the nights those of the Meccans who
were Muslims in secret stole down from the hills, and there were many
joyous encounters. 'Abbas, whose Islam was tolerated by Quraysh, openly
spent most of the three days with the Prophet. It was then that he offered
him in marriage his wife's sister Maymunah, now a widow, and the
Prophet accepted. Maymunah and Umm al-FadI were full sisters, and with
them, living in the household of 'Abbas, was their half-sister Salma, the
widow of Hamzah, and her daughter 'Umarah. *A1I suggested that their
cousin, Hamzah's daughter, should not be left amongst the idolaters, to
which the Prophet and 'Abbas agreed; and since Fatimah was one of the
pilgrims it was arranged that she should take 'Umarah with her in her
howdah.

When the three days were at an end, Suhayl and Huway tib came down
from Abu Kubays and said to the Prophet who was sitting with Sa'd ibn
*Ubadah and others of the Helpers: "Thy time is finished, so begone from
us." The Prophet answered; "How would it harm you to give me some
respite, that I may celebrate my marriage amongst you and prepare for you
a feast?" "We need not thy feast," they said. ''Begone from us. We adjure
thee by God, O Muhammad, and by the pact which is between us, to leave
our country. This was the third night, which now is passed." Sa'd was

z8z Muhammad

angry at their lack of courtesy, but the Prophet silenced him, saying; "O
Sa*d, no ill words to those who have come to visit us in our camp!'* Then he
gave orders that by nightfall every pilgrim should have left the city. But he
made an exception for his servant, Abu Rafi', whom he told to stay behind
and bring Maymunah with him, which he did; and the marriage was
consummated at Sarif, a few miles outside the Sacred Precinct.

This new alliance established another unforeseen relationship with the
enemy. Maymunah and Umm al-Fadl and their half-sisters Salma and
Asma' were all daughters of the same mother. But Maymunah and Umm
al-Fadl had another half-sister on their father's side, by name 'Asma',^
widow of the great Walid of Makhzum. It was she who had borne him
Khahd, who had now become the Prophet's nephew by marriage.

One day soon after the return to Medina, the Prophet was woken from an
afternoon siesta by the sound of a somewhat heated discussion. He
recognised the voices of *Ali, Zayd and Ja'far, and it was evident that they
were all three at odds with each other. It was also evident that the more
they argued, the further they were from reaching an agreement. Opening
the door of the room he was in, he called them to him and asked what was
the cause of their dispute. They exclaimed that it was a question of honour,
as to which of them had most right to be the guardian of Hamzah's
daughter, who had been in 'All's house ever since her arrival from Mecca.
"Come to me," said the Prophet, "and I will judge between you." When they
were all seated he turned first to *Ali and asked him what he had to say for
himself. "She is mine uncle's daughter," he said, "and it was I who brought
her out from Mecca, and I have most right to her." The Prophet then
turned to Ja'far, who said: "She is mine uncle's daughter, and her mother*s
sister is in my house." His wife Asma' was 'Umarah's maternal aunt. As to
Zayd, he simply said "She is my brother's daughter," for the Prophet had
made the pact of brotherhood between Hamzah and Zayd when they first
came to Medina, and Hamzah had made a testament leaving Zayd in
charge of his affairs. There was no doubt that each of the three was
convinced that he had the best right to the honour in question. So before
pronouncing his judgement the Prophet spoke words of praise to each one
of them. It was then that he said to Ja'far: "Thou art like me in looks and in
character."^ Not until he saw that he had made each one of them happy did
he voice his decision, which was in favour of Ja'far. "Thou hast most right
to her," he said. "The mother's sister is as a mother." Ja'far said nothing,
but rose to his feet and circled around the Prophet with the steps of a
dancer. "Ja'far, what is this?" said the Prophet. He answered: "It is that
which I have seen the Abyssinians do in honour of their kings. If ever the
Negus gave a man a good reason to rejoice, that man would rise and dance
about him."

It was not long before the Prophet arranged a marriage between
'Umarah and his own stepson, her cousin Salamah, whose father, Abu

' Although transcribed by the same Latin letters, apart from diacritics, this name,
beginning widi 'ayn and sad, differs considerably in sound from Asma', which begins with
alt f and sin.

^ I.S.IV/I.Z4.

The Lesser Pilgrimage and its Aftermath z8 3

Sal amah, was the son of liamzah^s sister Barrah. On that occasion the
Prophet said: "Have I now requited Salamah enough?" He meant that he
was indebted to Salamah for having given him his mother Umm Salamah
in marriage, and now in return he had given Salamah a bride.

The Prophet's entry into Mecca had been witnessed by the most eminent
men of Quraysh. But there had been two notable exceptions: Khalid and
'Amr were not on Abu Qubays, nor were they encamped on any of the
other hills above Mecca. Both had withdrawn from the city well in advance
of the Prophet's approach. Their decisions to absent themselves had been
made independently, nor were their reasons for doing so the same. But on
one point they were in complete agreement, namely that the treaty of
Hudaybiyah had been a great moral victory for the Prophet, and that his
entry into Mecca would prove to be the end of their resistance to him. But
the hostility of 'Amr against Islam had not diminished, whereas KhaHd had
for some years now been a man who is in two minds. Outwardly this had
not been evident: his military prowess had thrust him to the fore in every
action that Quraysh had taken against the Prophet. But he confessed
afterwards that he had come away from Uhud and from the Trench with
the uneasy feeling that the battle had been pointless and that Muhammad
would triumph in the end; and when the Prophet had eluded his squadron
on the way to Hudaybiyah, Khalid had exclaimed: 'The man is inviolably
protected !" That had been his last action against Islam. Then had come the
amazing victory at Khaybar.

But there were also considerations of a different kind: almost despite
himself he had a personal liking for the Prophet; and from the letter that his
younger brother Walid had written him before his death he had learned
that the Prophet sometimes asked after him and that he had said: "If he
would put his redoubtable vigour on the side of Islam against the idolaters
it would be better for him; and we would give him preference over others,"
To this Walid had added: "So see, my brother, what thou hast missed!"

There was, in addition, an even closer family influence at work. Khalid's
mother, *Asma', who had long been favourable to the Prophet, had
recently entered Islam; and now his aunt Maymunah had become the
Prophet's wife. Not long after this marriage Khalid had a dream in which
he was aware of being in a country which was shut in on all sides and
extremely barren. Then he went out from this confinement into a land
which was green and fertile, with pastures which stretched far and wide.
He knew that this was something of a vision; and having divined the
essence of its meaning, he made up his mind to go to Medina. But he
preferred to go with a companion. Was there no one else of like mind with
himself? Next to 'Amr, who was not to be found, his nearest comrades in
arms were 'Ikrimah and Safvvan. He sounded both of them, but Safwan
said: "Even if every other man of Quraysh were to follow Muhammad, I
would never follow him." 'Ikrimah said much the same; and Khalid
remembered that both their fathers had been killed at Badr, where Safwan
had lost also a brother. Regretfully he set out alone, but no sooner had he
left his house than he fell in with 'Uthman the son of Talhah of *Abd
ad-Dar - the man who, years ago, had gallantly escorted Umm Salamah

284 Muhammad

from Mecca to Medina, 'Uthman was a close friend to Khalid, closer than
either Safwan or *Ikrimah; but Khalid's experience with the other two had
made him reticent; and he remembered moreover that 'Uthman had lost
his father, two uncles and four brothers at Uhud, They rode on together in
silence for a while. Then Khalid suddenly decided to speak, and with a
searching look he said: '*Our plight is no better than that of a fox in his
earth. Pour iP. but a pail of water, and out he must come!" He immediately
saw that 'Uthman understood perfectly what he meant, so he told him
where he was going and why; and 'Uthman, who had been gradually
coming to the same decision, now resolved to accompany him, Khalid
gladly agreed to wait for him while he returned home for provisions and
clothes; and early the next morning the two of them set off together for
Medina.

As to 'Amr, he was of one mind with Safwan and 'Ikrimah about Islam,
but he saw more clearly than they did the precariousness of the situation;
and gathering round him a few younger men, his clansmen of Sahm and
others, who looked on him as a leader, he persuaded them to go with him
to Abyssinia. He pointed out that if Muhammad triumphed in the
inevitably imminent struggle for power then they would have safe asylum;
and if Quraysh should triumph after all they could return to Mecca. "We
had rather be under the Negus than under Muhammad," he said, and they
agreed.

'Amr was an astute politician, and a man of great perseverance, not
easily discouraged. Despite his total failure to undermine the powerful
impression which Ja*far and his companions had made, he had none the
less been at pains to appease the Negus as far as he was concerned, and had
assiduously maintained relations with him throughout the years, always
avoiding any mention of the Muslim refugees. But now they had left the
country and gone to Medina; and with them would have gone, so 'Amr
wrongly concluded, all the Negus's prejudice in favour of the new religion.
At his first audience his rich gift of leather was graciously accepted, and the
Negus seemed so well disposed that 'Amr decided to come at once to the
point and to ask for asylum. But in doing so he spoke slightingly of the
Prophet, and this provoked a sudden overwhelming outburst of royal
anger. 'Amr was altogether taken aback: from what the Negus said it was
clear that the best way for him to build a future for himself at his court - far
better than gifts of leather - was to become a follower of Muhammad. He
had fled from Islam only to find that Islam had outstripped him to the very
refuge he had hoped to take; and with the ruin of his plans his resistance
began to crumble. "Dost thou testify unto this, O King?" he said, meaning
to the prophethood of Muhammad. "I bear witness to it before God," said
the Negus. "Do what I tell thee, O 'Amr, and follow him. His is the truth,
by God, and he will triumph over every persuasion that setteth itself
against him, even as Moses triumphed over Pharaoh and his hosts."^

History has not recorded the names of the companions of 'Amr or what
they decided to do. But 'Amr himself boarded a boat which took him to a
port on the Yemeni coast, where he bought a camel and provisions and set

W.743.

The Lesser Pilgrimage and its Aftermath z8 5

off for the north; and when he reached Haddah, one of the first halts on the
coastal route from Mecca to Medina, he came upon Khalid and 'Uthman,
and they travelled the rest of their way together.

They were joyfully received in Medina, and Khalid said of the Prophet:
"His face shone with light as he returned my greeting of Peace." He was the
first to pledge allegiance. "I bear witness that there is no god but God, and
thou art the Messenger of God." "Praise be to God who hath guided thee,"
said the Prophet. "I ever saw in thee an intelligence which I hoped would
not bring thee in the end to anything but good." "O Messenger of God,"
said Khalid, "thou didst see all those fields of battle whereon I took part
against thee in obstinate resistance to the truth. Pray therefore unto God
that He may forgive me them." "Islam cutteth away all that went before
it," said the Prophet. "Even so much as that?" said Khalid, still visibly
troubled in conscience; and the Prophet prayed: "O God forgive Khalid
for all his obstructing of the way to Thy path."' Then 'Uthman and 'Amr
pledged their allegiance; and * Amr said afterwards that he had been quite
unable to raise his eyes to the Prophet's face, such was the reverence he felt
for him at that moment.

'Umar's cousin Hisham,- the brother of 'Amr, had escaped from Mecca
to Medina shortly after the battle of the Trench. Since then he had been
joined by his nephew 'Abd Allah, the son of 'Amr. 'Abd Allah, now in his
sixteenth year, was deeply devout and much given to fasting. He also
showed promise of being one of the most learned of the Companions, and
recorded many of the sayings of the Prophet, who gave him permission to
write them down. Both 'Abd Allah and Hisham had prayed for the Islam of
'Amr, and his reunion with them in Medina was a matter of great rejoicing
both for them and for him.

Two other events of joy in these months were the Islam of 'Aqil, the
brother of Ja'far and 'All, and of Jubayr, the son of Mut'im. The faith
which had taken root in Jubayr's heart when he had come to ransom some
of the captives of Badr was now a growth which could not be set aside. To
'Aqil, when he came to pledge his allegiance, the Prophet said: "I love thee
with two loves, for thy near kinship unto me, and for the love which I ever
saw for thee in mine uncle. ' *^

' W. 741-9. ^ Seepp. TT4-15, LS.IV/z,3o.

LXXIII

Deaths and the
Promise of a Birth

THE earlier half of this same year of rejoicing, the eighth year after
the Hijrah, was also a time of bereavement. The first of the deaths in
the household of the Prophet was that of his daughter Zaynab. He
was with her at the end and spoke words of comfort to his son-in-law and
little granddaughter. Then he gave instructions to Umm Ayman, together
with Sawdah and Umm Salamah, to make ready the body for burial. When
the ablutions had been performed, the Prophet took off an undergarment
he was wearing, and told them to wrap her in it before they shrouded her.
Then he led the funeral prayer, and prayed also beside her grave.

Khadijah was the only one of his wives who had borne him children. The
people of Medina longed that a child should be born to the Prophet in their
city. Only two of his present wives - Umm Salamah and Umm Habibah -
had borne children to their first husbands. But at each new marriage the
citizens were filled with fresh hopes, which gradually faded, for not one of
the later wives was destined to be the mother of a child to the Prophet. Yet
now, shortly after the death of his eldest daughter, it appeared that he was
again to become a father. Mariyah, his Coptic bondmaid, was expecting a
child. She was already a centre of attention for the people of Medina who
knew well the Prophet's affection for her, and who sought to please him by
their kindness to her; and now their attentiveness was redoubled.

About three months after his return from the Lesser Pilgrimage the Prophet
sent fifteen men to act as peaceful messengers of Islam to one of the tribes
on the borders of Syria; but their friendly greetings were met by a shower
of arrows, and having been obliged to fight they were all killed but one.

There was another setback, smaller in that it involved only a single
death, but of greater political import. The Prophet had previously sent
Dihyah Al-Kalbi to the governor of Bostra with his letter to Caesar, which
had remained unanswered. A second messenger to Bostra was now
intercepted by a chief of the tribe of Ghassan and put to death. Such an act
could not be allowed to go unpunished, despite the risk that the Ghassa-
nids, who were mainly Christian, might be able to persuade Caesar's
representative to send them help.

The Prophet mustered an army of three thousand men and put Zayd in

Deaths and the Promise of a Birth 287

command of them, with instructions that if Zayd should be killed Ja'far
should take his place. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah was named as third in
order of precedence. If these three should all be incapacitated, the men
were to follow a commander of their own choosing. The Prophet then gave
Zayd a white standard, and with others of his Companions he accom-
panied the army to where the ground rises up towards the Pass of Fare-
well, an opening between the hills a little to the north of Uhud.

'Abd Allah had with him, on the back of his saddle, an orphan boy
whose guardian he was. On the way the boy heard him reciting some verses
he had composed, expressing the desire to be left behind in Syria when the
army returned home. "When I heard these verses I wept," said the boy,
"and he flicked me with his whip and said: *What harm to thee, wretched
fellow, if God grant me martyrdom and I have rest from this world and its
toil and its cares and its sorrows and its accidents, and thou returnest safe
in the saddle?' After that, during a halt in the night, he prayed two prayer
cycles followed by a long supplication. Then he called me and I said: 'Here
I am, at thy service.' 'If God will,' he said, 'it is martyrdom.'

When the army reached the Syrian border they heard that not only had
the northern tribes come out in considerable strength, but that Caesar's
representative had greatly reinforced them with imperial troops.
Altogether the enemy were said to be a hundred thousand strong. Allowing
for the probability of gross exaggeration, Zayd none the less decided to
halt and to hold a council of war. Most of the men were in favour of
sending immediately to inform the Prophet of this grave turn of events.
Then he could either order them home or give them auxiliaries. But 'Abd
Allah spoke vigorously against any such course. Using the same unanswer-
able argument which had been used before Uhud, and which was to be
used again and again in the future, he ended his speech with the words:
"We have before us the certainty of one of two good things, either victory
or martyrdom - to join our brethren and be their companions in the
gardens of Paradise, On then to the attack!"

'Abd Allah's resolution prevailed, and the army continued its northward
advance. They were now not far from the southern end of the Dead Sea,
separated from its long and deep valley by the range of hills which rises up
from its eastern shores. A few hours' march brought them within sight of
the enemy. Whatever the exact numbers of the combined Arab and
Byzantine forces, the Muslims could see at a glance that they themselves
were vastly outnumbered, on a scale which they had never yet experienced.
Nor had any of them witnessed before such military splendour as that of
the imperial squadrons which formed the centre of the host, with the Arabs
on either flank. The pomp of Quraysh as they had descended the hill of
'Aqanqal at Badr had been as nothing to the wealth of arms and armour
and the richly caparisoned horses which now met their eyes. Their
approach moreover had been anticipated, and the legions were ready for
them, drawn up in batde formation.

Wishing to avoid an immediate engagement, for the slope of the land
was against them, Zayd gave orders to withdraw southwards to Mu'tah,

W.759.

z88 Muhammad

where they would have the advantage, and there they consolidated their
position. The enemy, conscious of the great superiority of their numbers
and bent on making it an altogether decisive day, followed them to
Mu*tah. As they drew near, instead of retreating further as they had
expected, Zayd gave the order to attack.

At that moment the space between Mu'tah and Medina was folded up
for the Prophet and he saw Zayd with the white standard leading his men
into battle. He saw him many times mortally wounded until finally he fell
to the ground, and Ja*far took the standard and fought until his life also
flowed out from his wounds. Then *Abd Allah took the standard and the
attack which he led against the enemy was repulsed with a vigorous
onslaught in which he too was killed and his men driven back in disarray.
Another Helper, Thabit ibn Arqam, seized the standard and the Muslims
rallied, whereupon he gave it to Khalid who at first refused the honour
saying that Thabit had more right to it. "Take it man," said Thabit; "I did
but take it to give it thee." So Khalid took command and knit the ranks
together, and the enemy advance was so firmly checked that they drew
back enough to enable the Muslims to beat an orderly retreat. It was a
victory for the other side, but they gained no advantage from it; and of the
Muslims, apart from their three leaders, only five were killed. It was thus
something of a victory for Khalid; and when the Prophet told his Compan-
ions of the battle and of the deaths of Zayd and Ja*far and *Abd Allah he
said: "Then one of God*s swords took the standard, and God opened up
the way for them" - that is, for the Muslims to reach safety; and thus it was
that Khalid came to be called "the Sword of God".

As the Prophet described the batde the tears were flowing down his
cheeks, and when the time came for the prayer he led it and immediately
withdrew from the Mosque instead of turning to face the congregation as
was his wont. He did the same again at sunset, and yet again after the night
prayer.

Meantime he had been to the house of Ja*far. Asma'," he said, "bring
me Ja*far's sons." With some misgivings at the gravity of his face she
fetched the three boys. The Prophet kissed them, and then again his eyes
filled with tears and he wept, "O Messenger of God," she said, **dearer
than my father and my mother, what maketh thee weep.^ Hath news
reached thee of Ja*far and his companions?" "Even so," he said. "They
were struck down this day," She uttered a cry of lamentation, and women
hastened to her side. The Prophet returned to his house, and ordered food
to be prepared for the family of Ja*far during the next days. "Their grief
doth busy them", he said, "beyond caring for their own needs."

Umm Ayman and Usamah and the rest of Zayd's family were in his
house. He had already condoled with them; and as he returned, Zayd's
little daughter came out into the street in tears, and seeing him she ran into
his arms. He now wept unrestrainedly, and as he clasped the child to him
his body shook with sobs. Sa*d ibn 'Ubadah happened to pass by at that
moment and searching in himself for words of comfort, he murmured: '*0
Messenger of God, what is this?" "This," said the Prophet, "is one who
loveth yearning for his beloved."^

' I.S. 111/1,32.

Deaths and the Promise of a Birth 289

That night the Prophet had a vision of Paradise, and he saw that Zayd
was there, and Ja*far and *Abd Allah and the other martyrs of the battle;
and he saw Ja'far flying with wings like an AngeL At dawn he went to the
Mosque; his Companions sensed that the weight of his sorrow had left
him; and after the prayer he turned as usual to face the congregation. Then
he went again to Asma', to tell her of his vision; and she was greatly
consoled.

When Khalid and his men returned to Medina the Prophet called for his
white mule, Duldul, which the Muqawqis had given him, and putting
Ja*f ar's eldest boy in front of him on the saddle he rode out to meet them.
Many men and women had already lined the route, and as the troops
passed they jeered at them and threw dust in their faces. "Runaways," they
shouted, "Did ye flee from fighting in God's path?" "Nay," said the
Prophet, "they are not runaways but returners again to the fight, if God
will."»

The setback at Mu'tah was an encouragement to the northern Arabs to
strengthen their resistance to the new Islamic state, and in the following
month news came that the tribes of Ball and Quda*ah were massing in
considerable numbers on the Syrian border, with intent to march south.
But this time there appeared to be no question of reinforcements from
Caesar. The Prophet sent 'Amr at the head of three hundred men, with
instructions to fight where necessary and to win allies where possible. The
choice of commander may have been partly determined by the close ties of
kinship which *Amr had with one of the tribes in question, for his mother
was a woman of Bali. By dint of night marches and relatively secluded
camps he avoided attracting undue attention, and reached the Syrian
border in ten days. Winter had set in early that year and unaccustomed to
being so far north, the men of Mecca and Medina set about gathering
firewood as soon as they had made their final halt. But 'Amr forbade the
lighting of a single fire; and grumblers were silenced with the words: "Ye
were ordered to hear me and obey me; therefore do so."

Quickly realising that the enemy were in greater numbers than had been
anticipated, and that there was Httle hope, for the moment, of local
assistance, he sent back a man of Juhaynah to the Prophet asking for
reinforcements. Abu 'Ubaydah was immediately dispatched with an addi-
tional two hundred men. As one of the closest Companions, and one who
moreover had fought in every campaign, he expected to take precedence;
but 'Amr insisted that the newcomers were merely an auxiliary force and
that he himself was commander-in-chief. The Prophet had told Abu
'Ubaydah to see that there was perfect co-operation and no division
between the two forces, so the older man gave way, saying to 'Amr: "In
case thou shouldst disobey me, by God I will obey thee.'''' When the
Prophet heard of this, he invoked blessings upon Abu 'Ubaydah.

'Amr now led his five hundred men across the Syrian border, and as they
advanced the enemy dispersed. There was only one brief exchange of
arrows; for the rest, it was a question of coming upon deserted camps
whose very recent occupants had vanished; and in the absence of the
hostile clans, friendly elements - individuals and groups - ventured to

^ W.765.

z^o Muhammad

manifest themselves. So 'Amr was able to claim, in a letter to the Prophet,
that he had re-established the influence of Islam upon the Syrian frontier.

That influence was now rapidly growing throughout the tribes on all
sides of the Yathrib oasis. The reasons were not purely spiritual: the
Prophet was now known as a dangerous and incalculable enemy and as a
powerful, reliable and generous ally; by comparison, other alliances vy^ere
beginning to seem less attractive and more hazardous. In many cases the
political and religious motives were inextricably connected; but there was
also a factor, slow-working yet powerful and profound, which had
nothing whatsoever to do with politics, and which was also largely
independent of the deliberate efforts made by the believers to spread the
message of Islam. This was the remarkable serenity which characterised
those who practised the new religion. The Koran, the Book of God's
Oneness, was also the Book of Mercy and the Book of Paradise. The
recitation of its verses, combined with the teaching of the Messenger,
imbued the believers with the certainty that they had within easy reach,
that is through the fulfilment of certain conditions well within their
capacity, the eternal satisfaction of every possible desire. The resulting
happiness was a criterion of faith. The Prophet insisted: "All is well with
the faithful, whatever the circumstances."^

N. XXI, 13.

LXXIV

A Breach of the
Armistice

ESPITE the treaty, some of the men of Bakr were still determined

to prolong their feud with Khuza*ah; and not long after the

JL-«^ campaign of 'Amr to Syria, a clan of Bakr made a night raid against
Khuza*ah, one of whom was killed. In the fighting which ensued, some of
which took place inside the sacred territory, Quraysh helped their allies
with weapons; and one or two men of Quraysh took part in the fighting
under cover of darkness. The Bani Ka*b of Khuza*ah immediately sent a
deputation to Medina to inform the Prophet of what had happened and to
ask for his help. He told them they could rely on him, and sent them back to
their territory. When they had gone, he went to *A'ishah, who could see
from his face that he was in great anger. He asked for some water to
perform his ablution, and she heard him say as he poured it over himself:
"May 1 not be helped if I help not the sons of Ka'b.'"

Meantime the Meccans were exceedingly troubled as to the possible
consequences of what had happened, and they sent Abu Sufyan to pacify
the Prophet, if need be. On his way, he met the men of Khuza*ah returning
home and he feared he was too late. His fears were increased by the
inscrutable demeanour of the Prophet. "O Muhammad," he said, "I was
absent at the time of the truce of Hudaybiyah, so let us now strengthen the
pact and prolong its duration." The Prophet parried his request with the
query: "Hath aught befallen to break it on your side?*' "God forbid!" said
Abu Sufyan uneasily. "We likewise," said the Prophet, "are keeping to the
truce for the period agreed upon at yudaybiyah. We will not modify it,
neither will we accept another in its place." He was clearly not prepared to
say more, so Abu Sufyan went to see his daughter, Umm Habibah, hoping
she might agree to intervene on his behalf. They had not met for fifteen
years. The best place to sit was the Prophet's rug, but as he was about to
take his seat she hastily folded it up from beneath him. "Little daughter,"
he said, "is this rug too good for me, thinkest thou, or am I too good for
it?" "It is the Prophet's rug," she said, "and thou art an idolater, a man
unpurified." Then she added: "My father, thou art lord of Quraysh and
their chief. How is it that thou hast failed to enter Islam, and that thou

z^z Muhammad

worshippest stones which neither hear nor see?" '*Wonder of wonders,"
he said, *'am I to forsake what my fathers worshipped to follow the religion
of Muhammad?" And, feeling that no help was to be expected from her, he
went to Abu Bakr and others of the Companions to ask them to intercede
on his behalf for a renewal of the pact, for he was now sure, although the
Prophet had not said so, that he considered the pact to have been
abrogated by the recent fighting. But it would serve the same purpose as a
renewal of the pact, that is, it would prevent bloodshed, if some man of
influence would grant a general protection between man and man. Abu
Sufyan suggested this alternative to Abia Bakr but he merely answered: "I
grant protection only within the scope of protection granted by the
Messenger of God."

Others replied much the same, and finally Abu Sufyan went to the house
of 'All, making much of their kinship, for they were both great-grandsons
of the two brothers Hashim and 'Abdu Shams. But 'AH said: "Alas for
thee, Abu Sufyan! The Messenger of God hath resolved not to grant thy
request; and none can speak to him in favour of a thing when he is averse to
it." For the Companions knew well that the Revelation had said to the
Prophet: Consult them about affairs^ and when thou art resolved^ then
trust in God;^ and they had come to know by experience that when the
Prophet had reached the degree of resolution he had clearly reached on this
occasion it was useless to seek to deter him. Abii Sufyan now turned to
Fatimah, who was present, with Hasan sitting on the floor in front of her.
"O daughter of Muhammad," he said, ''bid thy little son grant protection
between man and man, that he may become for ever the lord of the Arabs.'*
But Fatimah replied that boys do not grant protection, and Abu Sufyan
turned again to 'All in desperation and begged him to suggest some course
of action. "I see nothing for it", said 'AH, "but that thou thyself shouldst
rise and grant protection between man and man. Thou art lord of
Kinanah." "Would that avail me aught?" said Abu Sufyan. "By God, I
think not so," said 'Ali, '*but I find naught else for thee to do." So Abu
Sufyan went to the Mosque and said in a loud voice: "Behold, I grant
protection between man and man, and I do not think that Muhammad will
fail to uphold me." Then he went to the Prophet and said; "O Mu-
hammad, I do not think thou wilt disavow my protection." But the
Prophet merely answered: "That is what thou thinkest, O Abu Sufyan;"'
and the Umayyad chief returned to Mecca with great misgivings.

The Prophet began to prepare for a campaign, and Abu Bakr asked if he
also should make ready. The Prophet said he should and told him that they
were going out against Quraysh. "Must we not wait for the time of the
truce to run out?" said Abii Bakr. "They have betrayed us and broken the
pact," said the Prophet, "and I shall attack them. But keep secret what I
have told thee. Let one thinker think that God*s Messenger is for Syria, and
let another think he is for Thaqif, and another for Hawazin. O God, take
from Quraysh all sight of us, and all tidings of us, what we are about, that
we may come suddenly upon them in their land."

In answer to this prayer word came to him from Heaven that one of the

111,159. ' U. 807-8; W. 794-

A Breach of the Armistice 293

Emigrants, Hatib by name, had somehow learned the secret and had sent a
letter to Quraysh to warn them of the impending attack. He had given it to
a woman of Muzaynah who was travelling to Mecca, and she had hidden it
in her hair. The Prophet sent 'All and Zubayr after her, and having failed to
find the letter in her baggage they threatened to search her if she did not
produce it. So she gave them the letter and they took it to the Prophet, who
sent for the writer of it. "What made thee do this, O Hatib?" he said. "O
Messenger of God," he answered, "I am indeed a believer in God and His
Messenger. I have not changed my belief, and naught else hath taken its
place. But I am a man without standing amongst the people of Mecca,
without kinsmen of influence; and for the sake of my son and my family
who are there in their midst I sought to win their favour." "O Messenger of
God," said 'Umar, "let me strike off his head. The man is a hypocrite." But
the Prophet said to him: "How knowest thou, O *Umar, that God hath not
looked upon the men of Badr and said: *Do what ye will, for I have forgiven
you?'"^

The Prophet now sent messengers to those of the tribes whom he felt he
could now rely on for help, with a general summons to be present in
Medina at the beginning of the next month, which was Ramadan. The
Bedouin faithfully responded; and when the appointed day came the army
was the largest that had ever set out from Medina. No able-bodied Muslim
stayed behind. The Emigrants were seven hundred, with three hundred
horse; the Helpers were four thousand, with five hundred horse; and the
tribes, including those who joined them on the way, brought the total
numbers up to nearly ten thousand men. The cavalry rode on camelback,
leading their horses; and except for a few of the closest Companions none
of them knew who the enemy were.

When they were about half-way they were met by *Abbas and Umm
al-Fadl and their sons. 'Abbas had decided that it was now time for them to
leave Mecca and to live in Medina. The Prophet invited them to join his
expedition, which they did, to the joy of Maymunah, who had come with
the Prophet.

Umm Salamah was also with the Prophet; and at one of the next halts
she was told that two men of Quraysh were in the camp and wished to
speak with her. One of them was her half-brother 'Abd Allah, the son of
her father and the Prophet's aunt 'Atikah; the other was a son of the
Prophet's eldest uncle Harith, the poet Abu Sufyan, a one-time nurseling of
Halimah. He had with him his small son Ja'far. Both men had been close to
the Prophet until the Revelation came, when they turned against him. Now
they had come to seek his forgiveness, and to ask Umm Salamah to
intercede for them. She went to the Prophet and said: "Thy wife's brother,
son of thine aunt, is here, and thine uncle's son who is thy foster-brother."
But he said: "I have no call to see them. As to my brother - he meant her
brother 'Abd Allah - he said unto me what he said in Mecca ;^ and as to
mine uncle's son, he hath brought dishonour upon me." Abu Sufyan had
satirised him in his poems. She pleaded for them, but to no effect, and when
she told them this, Abu Sufyan said: "Either he shall see me or I will take

^ 1.1,809-10. 2 Seep. 62.

294 Muhammad

my son by the hand and go out into the desert until we die of thirst and
hunger. And thou" - he meant the Prophet - "art the most long-suffering
of men, even apart from my kinship with thee." When she repeated this
to the Prophet he relented^ and agreed to receive them in his tent, where
they both uttered their professions of faith; and both made good their
Islam.

During the march on one of these days the Prophet saw a bitch lying by
the side of the road with a litter of recently born pups which she was
feeding, and he was afraid that she might be molested by one or another of
the men. So he told Ju*ayl of Damrah to stand on guard beside her until
every contingent had passed.^ The name Ju'ayl still clung to him, despite
the new name of ' Amr which the Prophet had given him.

In Qudayd the army was joined by the Bani Sulaym, a troop of cavalry
nine hundred strong. "O Messenger of God," said one of their spokesmen,
"thou thinkest we are dissemblers, and_yet we are thy maternal uncles" -
he was referring to Hashim's mother, 'Atikah, who was a woman of their
tribe — "so we have come unto thee that thou mayest put us to the test. We
are steadfast in war, gallant at the encounter, horsemen firm in the saddle."

Like those who had come with the main force from Medina, they had
brought their standards and their pennants unmounted and furled. They
now asked the Prophet to mount them and to give them to men of his own
choice from amongst them; but the time had not yet come for the flying of
flags. Nor did he yet tell them where they were going.

At the outset the Prophet had sent a man through the army to proclaim:
"He that would keep his fast, let him keep it, and he that would break his
fast, let him break it," In case of travel in Ramadan it was permissible to
break the fast, provided that the full number of days missed were fasted
later. The Prophet himself and many others fasted until they were within a
certain distance of the sacred territory; then he gave orders to break the
fast; and when they had encamped at Marr az-Zahran he let it be known
that the reason for breaking the fast had been to gather up their strength
for meeting the enemy. This aroused the curiosity of some of the men to
breaking-point. From Marr az-Zahran, Mecca could be reached in one
long day's march, and easily in two. But in view of the truce it was unlikely
that they had come out against Quraysh. Their camp was also on the way
to the territory of the hostile tribes of Hawazin. Or could it be that having
gained possession of the northern garden of the Hijaz, the Prophet was
now bent on capturing its southern garden, the hitherto impregnable Ta'if ,
the centre of the worship of al-Lat?

Seeing that the question "Who are the enemy?" was being passed from
man to man throughout the host, Ka*b ibn Malik volunteered to go to the
Prophet and ask him. He did not however venture to put the question
directly, but going to where the Prophet was seated outside his tent he knelt
in front of him and recited four melodious verses he had just composed for
the occasion. The gist of these was that the men had reached the point of
drawing their swords and interrogating them as to what enemy their edges
were destined for, and that if the swords could have spoken they too would

1 W.811. 2 w. 804.

A Breach of the Armistice 295

have put the same question. But the Prophet's only answer was a smile, and
Ka*b had to return to the men with nothing achieved.

Their desire to know their own destination was no more than idle
curiosity as compared with the eagerness of Quraysh and Hawazin to
know the answer to the same question. The great tribe of Hawazin were
spread mainly over the slopes of the hill country which dominated the
southern extremity of the plain of Najd. Ta'if was on one of these slopes,
and it was Thaqif, the inhabitants of Ta*if and guardians of its temple, who
took the initiative of sending an urgent message to all their fellow clans of
Hawazin that an army of ten thousand was on its way south from Yathrib,
and that they must be prepared for the worst. Most of the clans immediate-
ly responded, and troops began to assemble at a point of vantage to the
north of Ta'if.

As to Quraysh, although they would have liked to think that Ta'if was in
danger rather than Mecca, they were conscious of having broken the pact.
This, together with the Prophet's refusal to renew it, made them apprehen-
sive almost to the point of despair. The Prophet was aware of this, and in
order to increase their fears he ordered his men to spread out and each
man to light a fire after dark. From the outskirts of the sacred territory ten
thousand camp-fires could now be seen burning, and news was quickly
brought to Mecca that Muhammad's army was far larger than they had
feared. After a hurried consultation Quraysh accepted the offer of Abu
Sufyan to go out and speak to the Prophet again. With him went Hakim,
Khadijah's nephew, who had done his best to stop the battle of Badr, and
Budayl of Khuza*ah, who had helped the Prophet at Hudaybiyah and who
had recently accompanied some of his clansmen to Medina in connection
with the rupture of the pact. As they approached the camp, already within
earshot of the grumbling of the camels, they saw a man on a white mule
coming apparently to meet them. It was 'Abbas, who had slipped out of the
camp, hoping to find someone on his way to the city who could take a
message for him to Quraysh. It was imperative, he thought, that they
should send a deputation to the Prophet before it was too late. When they
had recognised and greeted each other, 'Abbas took them to the tent of the
Prophet, and Abu Sufyan said: "O Muhammad, thou hast come with a
strange assortment of men - some known and some unknown - against
thy kindred." But the Prophet cut him short. "It is thou who art the
transgressor," he said. "Ye broke the pact of Hudaybiyah, and abetted the
attack on the Bani Ka'b, thereby sinfully violating the holy precinct of God
and His Sanctuary. Abu Sufyan sought to change the subject somewhat.
"Alas," he said, "hadst thou but turned thine anger and thy strategy
against Hawazin! For they are further from thee in kinship, and fiercer in
enmity against thee." "I hope", said the Prophet, "that my Lord will grant
me all of that - by victory over Mecca, by the triumph therein of Islam, and
by the rout of Hawazin - and that He will enrich me with their goods as
plunder and their families as captives." Then he said to the three men:
"Bear witness that there is no god but God, and that I am the Messenger of
God." Hakim and Budayl thereupon made their professions of faith, but
Abu Sufyan testified "there is no god but God" and then was silent. When
told to pronounce the second testification he said: "O Muhammad, there

29 6 Muhammad

is still in my soul a scruple about this; give her a respite." So the Prophet
told his uncle to take them to his tent for the night. At dawn the call to
prayer was made throughout the camp, and Abii Sufyan was greatly
shaken by the sound of it. "What are they about?" he said. "The prayer,"
said 'Abbas. "And how often do they pray each day and night?" said Abu
Sufyan, and when told that the prayers were five he said: "By God, it is too
much !" Then he saw the men eagerly crowding and jostling each other that
they might be splashed with water from the Prophet's ablution, or have
some drops of what was left from it, and he said: "O Abu 1-Fadl, I have
never seen such sovereignty as this." "Out upon thee!" said 'Abbas.
"Believe!" "Take me to him," said Abu Sufyan, and after the prayer
'Abbas took him again to the Prophet and he testified to his prophethood,
that he was indeed the Messenger of God. 'Abbas took the Prophet aside
and said: "O Messenger of God, well knowest thou the love of Abu Sufyan
for honour and glory. Grant him therefore some favour." "I will," said the
Prophet, and going to the Umayyad chief he told him to return to Quraysh
and say to them: "Whoso entereth the house of Abu Sufyan shall be safe,
and whoso locketh upon himself his door shall be safe, and whoso entereth
the Mosque shall be safe."

LXXV

The Conquest of
Mecca

THE tents had already been loaded on to the transport camels, and
the Prophet had at last called for the standards and pennants to be
brought to him. These he mounted one by one, placing each in the
hand of the bearer he had chosen for it. He told *Abbas to accompany Abu
Sufyan as far as the narrow end of the valley, and keep him there, so that he
could see for himself the size of the army as it passed. There would be time
enough for him then to return to Quraysh and deliver his message, for a
single man could reach Mecca by a more direct way than the army would
take.

"Who is that.^" said Abu Sufyan, pointing to the man at the head of the
host which now came in sight. "Khalid the son of Walid," said *Abbas; and
when he came level with them Khalid uttered three magnifications, Alldhu
Akbar. With Khalid were the horse of Sulaym. They were followed by the
yellow-turbaned Zabayr at the head of a troop of five hundred Emigrants
and others. He likewise uttered three magnifications as he passed Abu
Sufyan, and the whole valley resounded as with one voice his men echoed
him. Troop after troop went by, and at the passing of each Abu Sufyan
asked who they were, and each time he marvelled, either because the tribe
in question had hitherto been far beyond the range of influence of
Quraysh, or because it had recently been hostile to the Prophet, as was the
case with the Ghatafanite clan of Ashja*, one of whose ensigns was borne
by Nu'aym, the former friend of himself and SuhayL

"Of all the Arabs," said Abu Sufyan, "these were Mu^iammad's bit-
terest foes." "God caused Islam to enter their hearts," said 'Abbas. "All
this is by the grace of God."

The last of the squadrons was the Prophet's own, consisting entirely of
Emigrants and Helpers. The glint of their steel gave them a greenish-black
appearance, for they were fully armed and armoured, only their eyes being
visible. The Prophet had given his standard to Sa'd ibn 'tjbadah, who led
the van; and as he passed the two men at the side of the route he called out:
"O Abu Sufyan, this is the day of slaughter! The day when the inviolable
shall be violated! The day of God's abasement of Quraysh." The Prophet
was in the midst of the troop, mounted on Qaswa', and on either side of
him were Abu Bakr and Usayd, with whom he was conversing. "O

298 Muhammad

Messenger of God," cried Abu Sufyan when he came within earshot, "hast
thou commanded the slaying of thy people?" - and he repeated to him
what Sa'd had said. "I adjure thee by God," he added, "on behalf of thy
people, for thou art of all men the greatest in fiHal piety, the most merciful,
the most beneficent I" "This is the day of mercy," said the Prophet, "the
day on which God hath exalted Quraysh." Then *Abd ar-RahmSn ibn
'Awf and 'Uthman said to him, for they were close at hand: "O Messenger
of God, we are not sure of Sa'd, that he will not make a sudden violent
attack upon Quraysh," So the Prophet sent word to Sa*d to give the
standard to his son Qays, a man of relatively mild temperament, and to let
him lead the squadron. To honour the son was to honour the father, and in
the hand of Qays the standard would still be with Sa'd. But Sa'd refused to
hand it over without direct command from the Prophet, who thereupon
unwound the red turban from his helmet and sent it to Sa'd as a token. The
standard was immediately given to Qays.

When the army had passed, Abu Sufyan went back to Mecca with all
speed and standing outside his house he shouted at the top of his voice to a
quickly gathering crowd: "O men of Quraysh, Muhammad is here with a
force ye cannot resist. Muhammad is here with ten thousand men of steel.
And he hath granted me that whoso entereth my house shall be safe." Hind
now came out of the house and seized her husband by his moustaches.
"Slay this greasy good-for-nothing bladder of a man," she cried. "Thou
miserable protector of a people!" "Woe betide you," he shouted, "let not
this woman deceive you against your better judgement, for there hath
come unto you that vvhich ye cannot resist. But whoso entereth the house
of Abu Sufyan shall be safe." "God slay thee!" they said. "What good is
thy house for all our numbers?" "And whoso locketh upon himself his
door shall be safe," he answered, "and whoso entereth the Mosque shall be
safe," whereupon the crowd that had gathered dispersed, some to their
houses and some to the Mosque.

The army halted at Dhu Tuwa, which is not far from the city and within
sight of it. This was the place where two years previously Khaiid had been
stationed to bar their approach. But now there was no sign of any
resistance. It was as if the city were empty, as it had been at their visit the
previous year. But this time there was no three-day limit to their stay; and
when Qaswa' came to a halt the Prophet bowed his head until his beard
almost touched the saddle, in gratitude to God. He then drew up his
troops, putting Khaiid in command of the right and Zubayr in command
of the left. His own troop which was now in the centre he divided into two;
half of it was to be led by Sa'd and his son, and the other half, in which he
himself would ride, was to be led by Abu 'Ubaydah. When the order was
given they were to divide and to enter the city from four directions, Khaiid
from below and the others from the hills through three different passes.

High above the gathered host, on the slopes of Mount Abu Qubays,
were two figures which a keen sight could have distinguished as a
somewhat bent old man with a staff, guided and helped by a woman. They
were Abu Quhafah and Quraybah, the father and sister of Abu Bakr. That
morning, when the news came of the Prophet's arrival in Dhii Tuwa, the
blind old man had told his daughter to guide him up the mount and tell him

The Conquest of Mecca 2-99

what she could see. As a young and vigorous man he had dimbed the hills
on the other side of Mecca to see the army of Abrahah and his elephant.
Now he was old, and had been blind for many years; but he would at least
have a sight, through the eyes of his daughter, of this host of ten thousand
in which were his son and two grandsons. Quraybah described what she
could see as a dense mass of black, and he told her that those were the
horsemen drawn up in close formation, waiting for orders. Then she saw
the black mass spreading out until it became four distinct divisions, and
her father told her to take him home with all speed. They were still on their
way when a troop of horse swept past them, and one man leaned over from
his saddle and snatched the silver necklace that Quraybah was wearing.
Otherwise they suffered no harm and reached home in safety.

They had not been alone on Abu Qubays. At another part of the mount
*Ikrimah, Safwan and Suhayl had gathered a force of Quraysh together
with some of their allies of Bakr and HudhayL They were determined to
fight; and when they saw Khalid's troop making for the lower entrance to
the city they came down and attacked them. But they were no match for
Khalid and his men, who put them to flight, having killed some thirty of
them with the loss of only two lives on their own side. 'Ikrimah and Safwan
escaped on horseback to the coast; Suhayl went to his house and locked the
door.

The fight was almost at an end when the Prophet entered through the
pass of Adhakhir into Upper Mecca. Looking down towards the market-
place, he was dismayed to see the flash of drawn swords. "Did I not forbid
fighting?" he said. But when it was explained to him what had happened he
said that God had ordained it for the best.

He could see his red leather tent which Abu Rafi* had now pitched for
him not far from the Mosque. He pointed it out to Jabir who was at his
side; and after a prayer of praise and thanksgiving he made his way down
to the hollow. "I shall not enter any of the houses," he said.

Umm Salamah, Maymunah and Fatimah were waiting for him in the
tent; and just before his arrival they had been joined by Umm Hani'. The
law of Islam had made it clear that marriages between Muslim women and
pagan men were dissolved, and this applied to her marriage with
Hubayrah, who had foreseen the fall of Mecca and gone to live in Najran.
But two of her kinsmen by marriage, one of them the brother of Abu Jahl,
had taken part in the fighting against Khalid and had afterwards fled to her
house for refuge. Then *All had come to greet her, and seeing the two
Makhzumites he drew his sword and would have killed them despite the
formal protection she had given them; but she threw a cloak over them,
and stepping between him and them she said: "By God, thou shalt slay me
first!", whereupon he left the house. And now, having locked the door
upon them, she had come to intercede with the Prophet. She found
Fatimah no less stern than 'All. "Dost thou give protection to idolaters?"
she said. But Fatimah's reproaches were cut short by the Prophet's arrival.
He greeted his cousin with great affection, and when she told him what had
happened he said: "It shall not be. VThom thou makest safe, him we make
safe; whom thou protectest, him we protect."

He performed the rite of the greater ablution and prayed eight cycles of

300 Muhammad

prayer, after which he rested for an hour or more. Then he called for
Qaswa', and having put on his coat of mail and his helmet, he girt on his
sword; but in his hand he carried a staff, and his visor was up. Some of
those who had ridden with him that morning were already in line outside
the tent, and they made an escort for him as he went to the Mosque, talking
to Abu Bakr, who was at his side.

He rode straight to the south-east corner of the Ka*bah and reverently
touched the Black Stone with his staff, uttering as he did so a magnifica-
tion. Those who were near him repeated it, Allahu Akbar^ Alldhu Akbar^
and it was taken up by all the Muslims in the Mosque and the whole of
Mecca resounded with it, until the Prophet motioned them to silence with
his hand. Then he made the seven rounds of the Holy House with
Muhammad ibn Maslamah holding his bridle. At the Lesser Pilgrimage
that honour had been given to a man of Khazraj. It was therefore fitting
that this time it should go to a man of Aws.

The Prophet now turned away from the Ka'bah towards the idols which
surrounded it in a wide circle, three hundred and sixty in all. Between these
and the House he now rode, repeating the verse of the Revelation: The
Truth hath come and the false hath vanished. Verily the false is ever a
vanisher^^ and pointing at the idols, one by one, with his staff; and each
idol, as he pointed at it, fell forward on its face. Having completed the
circle he dismounted and prayed at the Station of Abraham, which was at
that time adjoining the Ka*bah. Then he went to the Well of Zamzam
where 'Abbas gave him to drink; and he confirmed for ever the traditional
right of the sons of Hashim to water the pilgrims. But when 'All brought
him the key of the Ka*bah, and when 'Abbas asked him to give their family
also the right of guarding it, he said: "I give you only that which ye have
lost, not that which will be a loss for others." Then he called for the man of
'Abd ad-Dar who earlier had come to him in Medina with Khalid and
' Amr, 'Uthman ibn Talhah; and handing him the key he confirmed for ever
his clan's traditional right of guardianship. 'Uthman reverently took the
key and went to open the door of the Holy House, followed by the Prophet.
Usamah and Bilal were close behind, and bidding them enter after him the
Prophet told 'Uthman to lock the door behind them.

Apart from the icon of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus, and a
painting of an old man, said to be Abraham, the walls inside had been
covered with pictures of pagan deities. Placing his hand protectively over
the icon, the Prophet told 'Uthman to see that all the other paintings,
except that of Abraham, were effaced.-

He stayed awhile inside, and then, taking the key from 'Uthman, he
unlocked the door; and standing on the threshold with the key in his hand,
he said: "Praise be to God, who hath fulfilled His promise and helped His
slave and routed the clans, He alone." The Meccans who had taken refuge
in the Mosque had since been joined by many of those who had at first
taken refuge in their homes and they were sitting in groups, here and there,
not far from the Ka'bah. The Prophet now addressed them, saying: "What
say ye, and what think ye?" They answered: "We say well, and we think

* XVII, 8i. ^ W. 834; A.1, 107. But other accounts say "all" without mention
of these two exceptions.

The Conquest of Mecca 301

well: a noble and generous brother, son of a noble and generous brother. It
is thine to command." He then spoke to them in the words of forgiveness
which, according to the Revelation, Joseph spoke to his brothers when
they came to him in Egypt: "Verily I say as my brother Joseph said: This
day there shall he no upbraiding of you nor reproach, God forgiveth you,
and He is the most Merciful of the merciful.^

Abu Bakr had left the Mosque in order the visit his father, and he now
returned leading Abu Quhafah by the hand, followed by his sister
Quraybah. "Why didst thou not leave the old man in his house," said the
Prophet, "for me to go to him there?" "O Messenger of God," said Abu
Bakr, "it is more fitting that he should come unto thee than that thou
shouldst go unto him." The Prophet gave him his hand and drawing him
down to sit in front of him, he invited him to make the two testifications of
Islam, which he readily did.

Having given orders that Hubal, the largest of the fallen idols, should be
broken to pieces and that all of them should be burned, the Prophet had it
proclaimed throughout the city that everyone who had an idol in his house
must destroy it. He then withdrew to the nearby hill of Saf a, where he had
first preached to his family. Here he received the homage of those of his
enemies who now wished to enter Islam, both men and women. They came
to him in hundreds. Amongst the women was Hind, the wife of Abu
Sufyan. She came veiled, fearing that the Prophet might order her to be put
to death before she had embraced Islam; and she said: "O Messenger of
God, praise be to Him who hath made triumph the religion which I choose
for myself." Then she unveiled her face and said: "Hind, the daughter of
'Utbah"; and the Prophet said: "Welcome." Another of the women who
came to Safa was Umm Hakim, the wife of 'Ikrimah. When she had
entered Islam she begged the Prophet to give her husband immunity. He
did so, although 'Ikrimah was still at war with him; and Umm Hakim
found out where he was, and went after him to bring him back.

The Prophet looked round at the gathering in front of him, and turning
to his uncle he said: "O 'Abbas, where are thy brother's two sons, 'Utbah
and Mu*attib? I see them not." These were the two surviving sons of Abu
Lahab. It was *Utbah who had repudiated Ruqayyah under pressure from
his father, and it seemed that they were afraid to appear. "Bring them to
me," said the Prophet, so 'Abbas fetched his nephews, who entered Islam
and pledged their allegiance. Then the Prophet took them each by the
hand, and walking between them, he led them to the great place of
supplication which is named al-Multazam and which is that part of the
Ka'bah wall which lies between the Black Stone and the door. There he
made a long prayer, and noticing the joy on his face, 'Abbas remarked on
it. He was answered: "I asked my Lord to give me these two sons of mine
uncle, and He hath given me them."^

The nearest to Mecca of the three most eminent shrines of paganism was
the temple of al-'Uzza at Nakhlah. The Prophet now sent Khalid to destroy
this centre of idolatry. At the news of his approach the warden of the
temple hung his sword on the statue of the goddess and called upon her to

XII, 92. ^ LS.IV/t,4I-z.

302 Muhammad

defend herself and slay Khalid or to become a monotheist. Khalid de-
molished the temple and its idol, and returned to Mecca. "Didst thou see
nothing?" said the Prophet. "Nothing," said Khalid. "Then thou hast not
destroyed her," said the Prophet. "Return and destroy her," So Khalid
went again to Nakhlah, and out of the ruins of the temple there came a
black woman, entirely naked, with long and wildly flowing hair. "My
spine was seized with shivering," said Khalid afterwards. But he shouted
" 'Uzza, denial is for thee, not worship," and drawing his sword he cut her
down. On his return he said to the Prophet: "Praise be to God who hath
saved us from perishing! I was wont to see my father set out for al-'Uzza
with an offering of a hundred camels and sheep. He would sacrifice them to
her and stay three days at her shrine, and return unto us rejoicing at what
he had accomplished!"^

Meantime most of the Meccans had pledged their allegiance. Suhayl was
an exception; but having taken refuge in his house, he sent for his son *Abd
Allah to ask him to intervene with the Prophet on his behalf. For despite
the general amnesty he could scarcely believe that it would apply to him.
But when 'Abd Allah spoke to the Prophet he immediately answered: "He
is safe, under the protection of God, so let him appear." Then he told those
about him: "No harsh looks for Suhayl, if ye meet him! Let him come out
freely, for by my hfe he is a man of intelligence and honour, not one to be
blind to the truth of Islam." So Suhayl came and went as he pleased; but he
did not yet enter Islam.

As to Safwan, his cousin 'Umayr obtained for him a two months' respite
from the Prophet, whereupon he set out after him and found him waiting
for a boat at Shu'aybah, which was in those days the port of Mecca.
Safwan was suspicious and flatly refused to change his plans, whereupon
'Umayr went again to the Prophet, who gave him his turban of striped
Yemeni cloth to take to his cousin as a token of his safety. This convinced
Safwan, who decided to return and seek further assurances for himself. "O
Muhammad," he said, "Umayr telleth me that if 1 agree to a certain thing"
— he meant the entry into Islam — "well and good, but that if not, thou hast
given me two months' respite." "Stay here," said the Prophet. "Not until
thou givest me a clear answer," said Safwan, "Thou shalt have four
months' respite," said the Prophet; and Safwan agreed to stay in Mecca.

'Ikrimah was the last of the three to come into the presence of the
Prophet after the victory of Mecca. Yet he was the first of them to enter
Islam. He had decided to take a boat from the coast of Tihamah to
Abyssinia, and as he was about to step on board the captain said to him:
"Make good thy religion with God." "What shall I say?" said *Ikrimah.
"Say: there is no god but God" was the answer, and the man made it clear
that for fear of shipwreck he would accept no passenger who did not so
testify. The four words la ilaha ilia Llah entered into the soul of *Ikrimah,
and he knew at that moment that he could have uttered them with
sincerity. Yet he did not embark, for his sole reason for wishing to do so
had been to escape from those words, that is from the message of
Muhammad which was summed up in la ilaha ilia Llah. If he could accept

w. 873-4.

The Conquest of Mecca 303

that message on board boat, he could accept it on shore. "Our God at sea is
our God on land," he said to himself. Then his wife joined him and told
him that the Prophet had guaranteed his safety in Mecca, and they
returned forthwith. The Prophet knew he was coming and said to his
Companions: " 'Ikrimah the son of Abia Jahl is on his way to you, as a
believer. Therefore revile not his father, for the reviling of the dead giveth
offence unto the living and reacheth not unto the dead."

On his arrival in Mecca 'Ikrimah went straight to the Prophet, who
greeted him with a face full of gladness, saying to him, after he had
formally entered Islam: "Thou shalt not ask of me any thing this day but I
will give it thee.*' "I ask thee," said *Ikrimah, "that thou shouldst pray God
to forgive me for all mine enmity against thee," and the Prophet prayed as
he had asked. Then *Ikrimah spoke of the money he had spent and the
battles he had fought to bar men from following the truth, and he said that
he would henceforth spend the double of it and fight with doubled effort in
the way of God; and he kept his promise.

LXXVI

The Battle of
Hunayn and the
Siege of Td'if

HE Prophet's final definite move against Quraysh had not stopped
Hawazin from continuing to consolidate their forces. Nor were

JL their apprehensions allayed by the news of his easy conquest of
Mecca and his destruction of all its idols; and great was their alarm at the
fate of the temple of al-*Uzza, which had been the sister-shrine to their own
temple of al-Lat. By the time that the invaders had spent two weeks in
Mecca, Hawazin had assembled an army of some twenty thousand men in
the valley of Awtas, to the north of Ta'if.

Leaving a man of 'Abdu Shams in charge of Mecca, and appointing
Mu'adh ibn Jabal, a young but well informed man of Khazraj, to instruct
converts in all matters that concerned the religion, the Prophet marched
out with his whole army, now increased by an additional force of two
thousand Quraysh. Most of these had recently pledged allegiance to him,
but some, including Suhayl and Safwan, had not yet entered Islam and
were simply there to defend their city against Hawazin. Before setting out,
the Prophet had sent to Safwan to borrow a hundred coats of mail which
he was known to possess, and the weapons that went with them. "O
Muhammad," said Safwan, "is it a question of *Give or I will take.^'" "It is
a loan to be returned," said the Prophet, whereupon Safwan agreed to
provide the camels for the transport of the armour and arms which he
handed over to the Prophet when they had reached their final camp.

The clans of Hawazin which had come out against them were Thaqif,
Nasr, Jusham, and Sa*d ibn Bakr. Their commander-in-chief was a
thirty-year-old man of Na§r named Malik, who had already won for
himself, despite his youth, a reputation for great valour and princely
munificence. Against the advice of older men he had ordered them to bring
with them all their women and children and cattle, on the grounds that
with these in the rear of the army the men would fight more valiantly. He
sent out three scouts to bring him information about the army now
approaching from Mecca, but it was not long before they returned almost
speechless, in a strangely shattered condition, their joints having been
loosed by terror, some even to the point of dislocation. "We saw white men

The Battle ofHunayn and the Siege of Ta'if 305

on piebald horses,'* said one, "and at once we were smitten with what thou
seest." "We are not fighting people of earth," said another, "but people of
Heaven. Take our advice and withdraw; for if our men see what we have
seen they will suffer what we have suffered.'* "Shame upon you!'* said
Malik. "Ye are the cowards of the camp.** And so wretched was their
plight of body and soul he gave orders for them to be put in detention away
from the rest of the troops lest they should spread panic throughout the
army. Then he said to those about him: "Show me a man of courage.'* But
the man chosen came back in the same state as the others, having seen the
same terrifying horsemen in the van of the opposing host. "The very sight
of them is unbearable," he gasped. But Malik refused to Usten, and after
dark he gave orders to advance to the valley of Hunayn, through which he
knew the enemy were bound to pass. He called a halt at his end of Hunayn,
where the road began to slope down into the valley bed. On eitiier side
were ravines, some of them capacious with wide entrances which could be
seen from above but which were completely masked from below. In one or
two of these he posted a large part of his horse, with orders to charge down
upon the enemy when he gave the signal. The rest of the army was drawn
up on the road itself near the top of the gorge.

The Prophet encamped that night not far from the other end of the
valley; and, having prayed the dawn prayer with his men, he exhorted
them, and gave them good tidings of victory if they were steadfast. The sky
was overcast, so that it was still almost dark as they descended into the
valley bed. Khalid was in the van as before, commanding Sulaym and
others. Next came the Muslim part of the new Meccan contingent. The
Prophet, mounted on Duldul, was this time in the midst of the army, with
the same squadron of Emigrants and Helpers, but surrounded by more
members of his own family than ever before, including his cousins Abu
Sufyan and 'Abd Allah, who had joined him on his way to Mecca, and the
two eldest sons of 'Abbas, Fadl and Qitham, and the two sons of Abu
Lahab. In the rear of the army were those of the Meccans who had not yet
entered Islam.

The van had almost finished its descent when in the half-light the
stationary host of Hawazin loomed into view above them on the opposite
slope. It was a formidable spectacle, the more so because in the rear of the
army itself there were thousands of camels, unmounted or mounted by
woman, and in the dimness of dawn they appeared to be part of the army
itself. The road was clearly barred in that direction; but before any new
instructions could be sought or any new orders given, Malik gave his
signal. The squadrons of Hawazin suddenly wheeled out of the ravines and
swept down upon Khalid and his men. The onslaught was so fierce and so
sudden that he could do nothing to rally the Bani Sulaym, who made little
or no resistance, but turned and fled headlong, scattering the ranks of the
Meccans who were behind them and who now followed them in flight up
the slope that they had just descended. The terrible stampede of horses and
camels choked the defile in its narrowest parts, but the Prophet was at a
point where he could withdraw a little to his right, and he now made a firm
stand at the side of the road with a small body of those who had been riding
near him — Abu Bakr, 'Umar and others of the Emigrants, some of the

3o6 Muhammad

Helpers, and all the men of his family who were present. Harith's son Abu
Sufyan stood beside him and took hold of the ring of Duldul's bridle.

The Prophet called for others to join him, but his words were drowned
by the din of battle. So he turned to *Abbas, who had a voice of exceptional
power, and told him to shout: "O Companions of the Tree! O Compan-
ions of the Acacia!" Immediately the summons was answered from all
sides - Labbayk !, "Here at thy service" - as Helpers and Emigrants rallied
to him. He soon had with him a hundred men, and spreading out across the
defile they momentarily checked the onslaught of the enemy. 'Abbas
continued to shout and many of those who had fled now returned to the
fight. The Prophet stood up in his stirrups, the better to be seen and the
better to see. The enemy were preparing a fresh onslaught, and he prayed:
"O God, I ask of Thee Tliy promise!" Then he told his foster-brother to give
him some pebbles, and taking them in his hand he flung them in the face of
the enemy as he had done at Badr. The tide of the battle suddenly turned
for no apparent reason - or rather, it was not apparent to the beHevers, but
it was apparent to the enemy, as it had been previously to their scouts; and
afterwards there came the Revelation: God hath helped you on many
fields, and on the day ofHunayn, when ye exulted in your numbers and
they availed you naught, and the earth for all its breadth was straitened for
you, and ye turned back in flight. Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace
upon His Messenger and upon the faithful, and sent down hosts that ye
saw not, and punished those who disbelieved. Such is the wage of the
disbelievers; and afterwards God relenteth unto whom He will, for God is
Forgiving, Merciful.^

The rout was tremendous: Malik fought with great bravery, but finally
retreated with the men of Thaqif to their walled city of Ta'if . The main part
of Hawazin was pursued with much slaughter as far as Nakhlah. From
there they returned to their camp at Awtas; but the Prophet sent a force to
dislodge them, and they took to the hills.

The Muslims had lost many men at the outset of the battle, in particular
the Bani Sulaym who had borne the brunt of the initial ambush. But after
the first onslaught relatively few had been killed. One of these few was
Ayman, Usamah's elder brother, who was struck down at the side of the
Prophet.

The Hawazin women and children who had been behind the lines were
all made captive; and in addition to the camels, sheep and goats there were
also 4,000 ounces of silver amongst the spoils. The Prophet put Budayl in
charge, and gave orders that it should all be taken, including the captives,
to the nearby valley of Ji*ranah, about ten miles from Mecca.

Among the divisions of Hawazin was a contingent from the Bani Sa*d
ibn Bakr, the clan with whom the Prophet had spent his infancy and early
childhood; and one of the older captives rebuked her captors saying: "By
God, I am the sister of your chief." They did not believe her, but none the
less brought her to the Prophet. "O Muhammad, I am thy sister," she said.
The Prophet gazed at her wonderingly: she was an old woman, of seventy
or more. "Hast thou any sign of that?" he said, and she at once showed him

IX. 25-7.

The Battle ofHunayn and the Siege of Ta'if 307

the mark of a bite. *Thou didst bite me," she said, "when I was carrying
thee in the valley of Sarar. We were there with the shepherds. Thy father
was my father, and thy mother was my mother." The Prophet saw that she
was speaking the truth: it was indeed Shayma', one of his foster-sisters;
and spreading out his rug for her, he bade her be seated. His eyes filled with
tears as he asked hef for news of Halimah and Harith, his foster-parents,
and she told him that they had both died in the fullness of years. After they
had talked he offered her the possibility of staying with him or returning to
the Bani Sa'd. She said she wished to enter Islam, but chose to return to her
clan. The Prophet gave her a rich present, and intending to give her more he
told her to remain with those of her people who were in the camp, saying
that he would see her again on his return. He then set off with the army for
Ta'if.

Thaqif had enough provisions in their city to last them for a year. They
had also ample means of resisting the engines of war which the Prophet
ordered to be used against them when all else had failed; and they were
expert archers. There were many fierce exchanges of arrows, but half a
month passed and the Muslims were no nearer to capturing the town than
they had been on the first day. All that had been achieved was the entry of
some men into Islam, for the Prophet had one day announced by means of
a crier that any slave of Thaqif who joined the Muslims would be set free.
About twenty slaves contrived to make their way out of the city, and
coming to the camp, they pledged their allegiance. Almost another week
had passed when the Prophet had a dream that he was given a bowl of
butter, and a cock came and pecked at it, and spilt it. "1 do not think tjiou
wilt gain from them this day what thou desirest," said Abu Bakr, and the
Prophet agreed. Perhaps he had already come to the conclusion that to
besiege Thaqif was not the best way to overcome them. However that may
be, he now gave orders to raise the siege and to proceed to JiVanah. As they
moved away from the city, some of the men asked the Prophet to curse its
inhabitants. Without replying, he raised his hands in supplication and
said: "O God, guide Thaqif and bring them to us."

Amongst those killed beneath the walls of Ta'if was Umm Salamah's
half-brother, the Prophet's cousin 'Abd Allah, who had so recently entered
Islam.

LXXVII

Reconciliations

WHEN the army reached Ji'ranah the captives were in a large
enclosure, sheltering from the sun, about six thousand women
and children. Most of them were very poorly clad, and the
Prophet sent a man of Khuza'ah to Mecca to buy a new garment for each
one, to be paid for out of the silver which was part of the spoils. The camels
were about twenty-four thousand in number; as for the sheep and goats,
no one attempted to count them, but they judged them to be forty
thousand, more or less.

Many of the men were impatient to receive their share of the spoils, but
the Prophet was unwilling to commit himself for the moment to any
irrevocable extent, for he anticipated that Hawazin would send him a
delegation begging for generous treatment. There was, however, one
sector of distribution which he did not wish to delay. His fifth of the spoils
served the same purposes as the money received by way of alms; and a
recent Revelation had introduced a new category of persons entitled to
benefit from such funds, namely those whose hearts are to be reconciled.
The revealed verse said: The alms are for the poor and the needy, and for
those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled^ and to
set free slaves and captives^ and for the relief of debtors ^ and for the cause
ofGody and for the wayfarer -an obligation enjoined by God, And God is
Knowing, Wise.^ An immediate example of men whose hearts are to be
reconciled were those of Quraysh who had recently entered Islam through
the force of circumstances when their world - the world of Arab paganism
- had been shattered by the establishment of the new religion in Mecca.
The Prophet now gave Abu Sufyan a hundred camels, and when he
thereupon asked that his two sons Yazid and Mu'awiyah should not be
forgotten they were each given a hundred, which meant in fact that Abu
Sufyan received three hundred. This did not escape the notice of others,
and when Khadijah*s nephew Hakim was given a hundred he asked for
two hundred more, which the Prophet allotted him forthwith. As in the
case of Abii Sufyan, any hesitation or reluctance would have defeated the
purpose of the gift. But to Hakim the Prophet none the less said: "This
property is a fair green pasture. Whoso taketh it in munificence of soul
shall be blessed therein; but whoso taketh it for the pride of his soul shall
not be blessed therein; and he shall be as one that eateth and is not filled.
The upper hand is better than the lower hand; and begin thy giving with

' IX, 60.

Reconciliations 309

such of thy family as are dependent upon thee." "By Him who sent thee
with the truth, I will not receive aught from any man after thee," said
Hakim determined that for the future his hand should never be the lower
hand; and he took only a hundred camels, reUnquishing his claim to the
rest.^

Included in the same category of recipients were those who were on the
brink, and had not yet made their decision to enter Islam, Some of these
were also given a hundred camels. The most important of them were
Safwan and Suhayl. Both had fought at Hunayn and when one of the
unconverted Meccans in the rear had expressed satisfaction at the initial
flight of the Muslims he was sharply rebuked by Safwan: "If an overlord I
must have," he said, "let it be a man of Quraysh rather than Hawazin!"
After he had received his hundred camels, Safwan accompanied the
Prophet as he rode through the valley of Ji'ranah to look at the spoils.
There were many side valleys opening out from the main valley, and in one
of these the pasture was especially luxuriant so that it was full of camels
and sheep and goats, with the men who herded them. Seeing that Safwan
was struck with wonder at the sight, the Prophet said to him: "Doth it
please thee, this ravine?" And when Safwan warmly assented, he added:
"It is thine, with all that is in it." "I bear witness," said Safwan, "that no
soul could have such goodness as this, if it were not the soul of a Prophet. I
bear witness that there is no god but God, and that thou art His
Messenger."

As to Suhayl, it was also at Ji'ranah that his final doubts were overcome,
either through his renewed acquaintance with his son 'Abd Allah, or his
witnessing of the miraculous victory of Hunayn, or his experience of the
Prophet's presence and his magnanimity, or through all of these together;
but once he entered Islam he entered it without reserve; and three years
later, when *Abd Allah was killed in battle, and Abu Bakr spoke words of
comfort to the bereaved father, he replied: "I have been told that God's
Messenger said: 'The martyr shall intercede for seventy of his people.' And
I have hopes that my son will not begin with anyone before me."

Amongst others who entered Islam at Ji'ranah were some leading men of
Makhzum: two brothers of Abu Jahl; Khalid's half-brother Hisham, the
full brother of the young Walid who had died; and a second son of the
Prophet's aunt *Atikah, Zuhayr, whose brother had recently been mar-
tyred at Ta'if. It was Zuhayr who, some ten years previously, in defiance of
Abu Jahl, had been the first to speak in the Assembly in favour of the
annulment of the ban on the Bani Hashim and the Bani 1-Muttalib. His
mother, ' Atikah, had already entered Islam before either of her sons.

The Muslim army had now spent several days in the valley, but still no
delegation had come from Hawazin, so the Prophet allocated each man his
portion of the spoils. No sooner had he finished doing so than the
delegation arrived, and in it was the brother of his foster-father Harith.
Fourteen of them were already Muslim. The remainder now entered Islam,
and insisting that the whole tribe of Hawazin must be considered as his
foster-kinsmen, they asked for his generosity. "We nursed thee on our

3IO Muhammad

laps, and suckled thee at our breasts," they said. He told them that he had
waited for them until he thought they were not coming, and that the spoils
had already been distributed. Then, although knowing the answer, he
asked them which were the dearer to them, their sons and their wives, or
their possessions; and when they said "Give us back our sons and our
wives" he said: "As for those which have fallen unto me and unto the sons
of *Abd al-Muttalib, they are yours; and 1 will plead with other men on
your behalf. When I have led the congregation in the noon prayer, then
say: *We ask the Messenger of God to intercede for us with the Muslims,
and we ask the Muslims to intercede for us with the Messenger of God.'

They did as they were told, and the Prophet turned to the congregation
and explained that they were asking for their children and their wives to be
returned to them. The Emigrants and Helpers immediately presented their
captives to the Prophet. As for the tribes, some of them did the same, and
some refused; but those who refused were persuaded to let their captives
go in return for future compensation; and so they were all returned to their
people except one young woman who had fallen to the lot of the Prophet's
maternal cousin, Sa'd of Zuhrah, and who wished to remain with him.

The Prophet gave his foster-sister some more camels and some sheep and
goats, and bade her fiarewell. Then, as the delegation were leaving, he
asked them for news of their leader, Malik. They told him that he had
joined Thaqif in Ta'if . "Send him word," he said, "that if he come to me as
a Muslim, I will return his family to him and his possessions, and I will give
him a hundred camels." He had dehberately lodged Malik's family with
his aunt *Atikah in Mecca, and had withheld his property from being
distributed.

When the message reached Malik in Ta'if, he said nothing to Thaqif for
fear they would imprison him if they suspected his intention; and leaving
the town by night, he made his way to the camp and entered Islam. The
Prophet put him in command of the already large and increasing Muslim
community of Hawazin, with instructions to give Thaqif no peace. The
raising of the siege of Ta'if had thus been no more than the briefest of
respites. Another kind of siege, less acute but more implacable, was now to
take its place.

The Prophet knew well that though the religion had power in itself to
work upon souls, this power depended on the religion's being accepted
with some degree of commitment, and not just nominally. It was to remove
barriers to that commitment, such as a sense of bitterness or frustration,
that the principle of giving to those whose hearts are to be reconciled had
been revealed; but this principle was not understood at first by many of the
older Companions, let alone others. In addition to what has already been
mentioned, rich gifts had also been given to some prominent Bedouin
whose Islam was highly questionable, whereas more deserving men of the
desert had been neglected. Sa'd of Zuhrah asked the Prophet why he had
given a hundred camels each to 'Uyaynah of Ghatafan and Aqra* of
Tamim and nothing to the devout Ju'ayl of Damrah, who was moreover,
unlike the other two, exceedingly poor. The Prophet repHed: "By Him in

Reconciliations 311

whose hand is my soul, Ju*ayl is worth more than a worldful of men like
'Uyaynah and Aqra*; but their souls have I reconciled that they might
better submit unto God, whereas I have entrusted Ju'ayl unto the
submission^ he hath already made."^

There were no further objections on the part of the Emigrants ; but by the
end of the Prophet's halt in Ji'ranah there was a growing disquietude of
soul among the four thousand Helpers. Many of them were impoverished,
and out of the exceptionally plentiful spoils each man had received only
four camels or their equivalent in sheep and goats. They had hoped for
good ransoms from the captives, but their share in these they had
unhesitatingly sacrificed to please the Prophet. Meantime they had witnes-
sed the bestowal of rich gifts upon sixteen influential men of Quraysh and
four chiefs of other tribes. All these recipients were men of wealth. But not
one of the Helpers had received a gift from the Prophet. The same was true
of the Emigrants; but that was no consolation to the citizens of Medina, for
most of the gifts had gone to men of Quraysh, that is to close kinsmen of
the Emigrants. "The Messenger of God hath joined his people," the
Helpers were saying amongst themselves. "In time of battle it is we who are
his companions, but when the spoils are divided his companions are his
own people and family. And we would fain know whence this cometh: if it
be from God, then we accept it with patience; but if it be no more than a
thought which hath occurred to God's Messenger, we would ask him to
favour us also."

When feeling rose high amongst them, Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah went to the
Prophet and told him what was in their minds and on their tongues. "And
where standest thou in this, O Sa'd?" said the Prophet. "O Messenger of
God," he answered, "I am as one of them. We would fain know whence
this Cometh." The Prophet told him to gather all the Helpers together in
one of the enclosures that had been used to shelter the captives; and some
of the Emigrants also joined them, with Sa'd's permission. Then the
Prophet went to them, and, having given praise and thanks to God, he
addressed them: "Men of the Helpers, word hath come to me that ye are
deeply moved against me in your souls. Did I not find you erring, and God
guided you, poor and God enriched you, enemies each of the other and
God reconciled your hearts?" "Yea indeed," they answered. "God and His
Messenger are most bountiful and most gracious." "Will ye not retort
against me?" he said. "How should we retort?" they asked, in some
perplexity. "If ye wished," he answered, "ye might say unto me, and say
truthfully, and be believed: 'Thou didst come unto us discredited, and we
credited thee, forlorn and we helped thee, an outcast and we took thee in,
destitute and we comforted thee,' O Helpers, are ye stirred in your souls
about the things of this world whereby I have reconciled men's hearts that
they may submit unto God, when you yourselves I have entrusted unto
your Islam? Are ye not well content, O Helpers, that the people take with
them their sheep and their camels, and that ye take with you the Messenger
of God unto your homes? If all men but the Helpers went one way, and the
Helpers another, I would go the way of the Helpers. God have Mercy upon

' islam. ^ W.948.

312 Muhammad

the Helpers, and on their sons, and on their sons' sons." They wept until
their beards were wet with their tears, and with one voice they said: "We
are well content with the Messenger of God as our portion and our lot,"'

' 1.1.886.

LXXVIII

After the Yictory

FROM Ji'ranah the Prophet made the Lesser Pilgrimage and then
returned to Medina. Shortly before his arrival he was overtaken
by 'Urwah of Thaqif, the man who had been so impressed at
Hudaybiyah by the reverence of the Muslims for their leader/ *Urwah had
been absent in the Yemen during the recent campaign; and the accounts
which he had heard on his return of the miraculous victory of Hunaynhad
brought to fullness his already half-formed intention to pledge his alle-
giance to the Prophet. Having done so, he now asked his permission to
return to Ta'if and summon the people of Thaqif to Islam. "They will slay
thee," said the Prophet. "O Messenger of God," said 'Urwah, '*! am dearer
to them than their first-born." "They will slay thee," reiterated the
Prophet. But when 'Urwah asked his permission a third time he said:
"Then go if thou wilt." It was as the Prophet had said: they surrounded his
house with archers and it was not long before he was mortally wounded by
an arrow. His family asked him, as he was dying, what he thought of his
death, and he said: "It is a grace which God in His Bounty hath given me."
Then he told them to bury him with the martyrs who had recently been
killed while besieging Ta'if, and they did so. When the Prophet was told of
his death, he said: " 'Urwah is even as the man of Ya-Sin.- He summoned
his people unto God and they slew him."' The man was Habib, a carpenter
of Antioch, who summoned his people to accept the message of Jesus after
they had driven away the Apostle Peter and others. They killed him; and in
the words of the Koran: It was said to him: Enter Paradise. He said: O that
my people knew how God hath forgiven my sins and lavished upon me His
bounty!* After 'Urwah's death his son and his nephew left Ta'if, and came
to the Prophet in Medina, where they entered Islam, and lived with their
cousin Mughirah, who was one of the Emigrants.

The death of 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah at Mut'ah had deprived the Prophet
not only of one of his valued Companions but also of a valued poet, for he
is said to have considered the verses of 'Abd Allah as equal to those of
Hassan and of Ka'b ibn MaUk. But by general consent there were two Arab
' poets at that time who outshone all the others. One of these was LabTd;^ the
second was another Ka'b, the son of one of the chief poets of the previous
generation, Zuhayr ibn Abi Salma. Although he was a man of Muzaynah,
Ka*b had spent most of his life with Ghatafan and had therefore not come

' Seep. 250- ' Surah XXXVI. ' W.961.
* XXXVl,26-7. ^ Seep.5>3'

314 Muhammad

under the Islamic influence which was so powerful in his own tribe. His
brother Bujayr had entered Islam after Hudaybiyah, but Ka'b vociferously
rejected the new religion and wrote satirical verses against the Prophet,
who let it be known that anyone who killed the offender would be doing a
service to the cause of God. Bujayr had already - but in vain - urged his
brother to go to the Prophet and ask his forgiveness. "He slayeth not him
who cometh unto him in repentance," he had said; and now, after the
victory of Mecca, he followed up his previous messages with a poem in
which were the lines:

Alone unto God, not to 'Uzza nor Lat,

Can be thine escape, if escape thou canst,

On a day when escape there is none, no fleeing from men,

Save for him whose heart is pure in submission to God.

With new multitudinous entries into Islam on all sides, Ka*b felt as if the
earth were closing in upon him, and in fear of his life he went to Medina, to
the house of a man of Juhaynah, a friend of his, to whom he made his
profession of Islam. The next day he joined the congregation in the
Mosque for the dawn prayer, after which he went to the Prophet and put
his hand in his, saying: "O Messenger of God, if Ka'b the son of Zuhayr
came unto thee in repentance, a Muslim, asking thee to grant him
immunity, wouldst thou receive him if 1 brought him unto thee?" And
when the Prophet answered that he would, Ka'b said: "I, O Messenger of
God, am Ka'b the son of Zuhayr." One of the Helpers leapt to his feet and
asked to be allowed to cut off his head, but the Prophet said: "Let him be,
for he hath come in repentance, and is no longer as he was." Then Ka'b
recited an ode which he had composed for the occasion. It was in the
traditional Bedouin style, splendid in diction and highly melodious, with
many vivid descriptions of nature; but the gist of it was to beg forgiveness.
It ended with a passage in praise of the Prophet and the Emigrants, which
begins:

The Messenger a light is, source of light;
An Indian blade, a drawn sword of God's swords,
Amid Quraysh companions. When they chose
Islam in Mecca's vale, men said: "Be gone!"
They went, not weaklings, not as men that flee,
Swaying upon their mounts and poorly armed,
But heroes, proud and noble of mien, bright-dad
In mail of David's weave' for the encounter.

When he had finished, the Prophet drew off his striped Yemeni cloak and
threw It over the shoulders of the poet in recognition of his mastery of
language.- But he said afterwards to one of his Companions: "Had he but
spoken well of the Helpers, for verily they deserve it!" and this was
reported to Ka'b, who composed another poem in praise of the Helpers,
dwelling on their prowess and bravery in batde, the surety of their
protection, and their generosity as hosts.^

' According to the Koran (XXXIV, 10) David invented chain armour.
1.1.893. ' I.H.893.

After the Victory 315

It was now clear that they had not long to wait for the birth of Mariyah's
child. Salma, who had attended on Khadijah at the birth of all her children,
was now an elderly woman. It was twenty five years since she had helped to
bring Fa^imah into the world; but she none the less insisted that she would
do the same for this new child of the Prophet, so when the birth was
thought to be imminent she moved to the quarter where Mariyah lived in
Upper Medina.

The child was born at night, and that same night Gabriel had come to the
Prophet and addressed him as never before: "O father of Ibrahim."
Immediately after the birth Salma sent her husband, Abu Rafi*, to tell the
Prophet that he had a son; and the next morning at the Mosque, after the
dawn prayer, the Prophet told his Companions of the birth. "And I have
named him," he added "by the name of my father, Ibrahim." There was
great rejoicing in Medina, and strong rivalry among the women of the
Helpers as to who should be the foster-mother. The choice fell on the wife
of a blacksmith in Upper Medina who lived near the babe's mother; and
the Prophet would visit his son nearly every day, and would often take his
siesta there.

Sometimes Ibrahim was brought to his father's house. *A'ishah said that
one day the Prophet brought him to her in his arms and said: "Behold his
likeness unto me." "I see no likeness," she said. "Dost thou not see how
fair of skin he is, and how fine of flesh?" said the Prophet. "AH that are fed
on the milk of ewes are plump and fair of skin," she answered. One of the
shepherds had instructions to send milk every day to the child's foster-
mother.

The Prophet stayed six months in Medina after his return from Mecca,
and during that time he sent out several small expeditions. One of these,
under the leadership of 'All, was against the tribe of Tayy whose territory
lay to the north-east of Medina. 'AH had previously been sent to destroy
the shrine of Manat at Qudayd on the Red Sea, so that of Arabia's three
principal centres of idolatry only the shrine of al-Lat at Ta'if now
remained. But the temple of Fuls was a centre of idol worship for those of
the people of Tayy who were not Christian; and the main object of this
present raid was to destroy that temple. Tayy was the tribe of the poet
Hatim.' His son 'Adi, a Christian like his father, had succeeded him on his
death as chief of the tribe.

At the sudden approach of *Ali and his men, *AdI escaped with his
immediate family except for one of his sisters, who was taken captive with
many others of the tribe. When she was brought before the Prophet in
Medina she threw herself at his feet and begged him to set her free. "My
father would ever free the captive," she said, "lodge well the guest, feed full
the hungry and comfort the distressed. Nor turned he ever away the seeker
of a boon. I am the .daughter of Hatim." The Prophet answered her with
kind words, and turning to those about him he said: "Let her go, for her
father loved noble ways, and God likewise loveth them."

Meantime a man of her tribe had come to ask for her release, and the
Prophet put her in his charge, giving her a camel and fine raiment. She went

See p. 37-

3i6 Muhammad

in search of her brother 'Adi and persuaded him to go to Medina. There he
entered Islam, pledging his allegiance to the Prophet, who confirmed his
chieftaincy of Tayy; and he proved thereafter to be a faithful and influen-
tial ally.

It was during these same months, at the beginning of Rajab, that word of
the death of the Negus came to the Prophet. After the next ritual prayer to
be prayed in the Mosque, he turned to the congregation and said: "This
day a righteous man hath died. Therefore arise and pray for your brother
Ashamah."' Then he led them in the funeral prayer. Reports came later
from Abyssinia that a light was constantly seen shining over the king's
grave.-

B.LXm,37. ' U.Z13.

LXXIX

Tabuk

NOT long after the battle of Hunayn the Emperor Heraclius had
restored the Holy Rood to Jerusalem, and this marked the final
fulfilment of the victory of the Byzantines over the Persians - the
victory v^^hich the Revelation had predicted and of which it had said that
day the believers will rejoice.^ There was indeed cause for rejoicing that the
Persians had been forced to evacuate their troops from both Syria and
Egypt. But as regards Syria, one danger seemed to have been replaced by
another. It was from that direction alone that the new Islamic state
appeared to be threatened. There were growing rumours in Medina that
Heraclius had advanced a year's pay to his army in view of a lengthy
campaign against Yathrib. It was said, moreover, that the Byzantines had
already marched south as far as Balga' and had mustered the Arab tribes of
Lakhm, Judham, Ghassan and *Amilah. These reports were partially
exaggerated and partially the reverse of the truth. Above all, it was not yet
generally known that during the Persian campaign Heraclius had had a
dream in which he saw the triumph throughout Syria of the kingdom of "a
circumcised man", whom he had identified with the writer of the letter that
had summoned him to Islam. The dream was of such power and clarity as
to inhibit his movements towards the south and even, to some extent, his
defence of Syria itself. He had now withdrawn from Jerusalem to Homs;
and there, in his certainty that the whole province would eventually be
overrun, he proposed to his generals that a treaty should be made with the
Prophet, giving him the province of Syria on condition that beyond its
northern frontiers there should be no further advance. Their amazement at
this idea and their extreme aversion to it caused him to abandon it; but he
never forgot his dream.

The Prophet likewise was certain that God would open up Syria to his
armies of Islam; and whether because he thought the time had come or
whether because he wished to give his troops some training for the
inevitable northern campaign, he now announced an expedition against
the Byzantines, and set about mustering by far the largest and best
equipped army which he had led. Hitherto it had been his practice not to
divulge his true objective at first, and to keep preparations as secret as
possible. But this time . there was no attempt at secrecy, and orders were
sent to Mecca and to the allied tribes that they must send at once to Medina
all their available armed and mounted men for the Syrian campaign.

XXX, 4.

3 1 8 Muhammad

It was the beginning of October in the year ad 630. The season was
always a hot one, but that year there was a drought and the heat was more
oppressive than usual. It was also the time when there was much ripe fruit
to be eaten, so that there were two reasons for not wanting to take part in
the expedition; and a third reason was the formidable reputation of the
imperial legions. The hypocrites and many of the less devout amongst the
Muslims came to the Prophet with various excuses, asking his permission
to stay behind, and many of the Bedouin did the same. There were also four
men of good faith, Ka'b ibn Malik and two others of Khazraj and a man of
Aws, who did not deliberately decide to remain at home, nor did they
proffer excuses; but it seemed to them so undesirable to leave Medina at
that season that they could not bring themselves to make preparations, and
they put off the task from one day to the next until the day dawned when it
was too late and the troops had gone. But the majority set about making
ready with all speed, and the richer men vied with each other in their
contributions of money, *Uthman alone gave enough for the mounting and
equipment of ten thousand men. Even so, there was not enough for all
those who wished to go, and a subsequent Revelation^ has enshrined in
memory "the seven weepers" - five needy Helpers and two Bedouin of
Muzaynah and Ghatafan - whom the Prophet turned reluctantly away
because he was unable to mount them, and tears filled their eyes as they left
his presence.

When all the Bedouin contingents had arrived the army was thirty
thousand strong, with ten thousand horse. A camp was made outside the
town, and Abu Bakr was put in charge of it until, when all was ready for
the march, the Prophet himself rode forth and took command.

He had left 'Ali to look after his family, but the hypocrites spread the
rumour that the Prophet found him a burden and was relieved to be rid of
his presence. Hearing this, *Ali was so distressed that he put on his armour,
seized his arms and overtook the Prophet at his first halt, intending to beg
his permission to accompany him. He told him what the people were
saying, and the Prophet said: "They lie. I bade thee remain for the sake of
what I had left behind me. So return and represent me in my family and in
thine. Art thou not content, O 'All, that thou shouldst be unto me as Aaron
was unto Moses, save that after me there is no Prophet."^

During the northward march it happened one day at dawn that the
Prophet was delayed in making his ablution. The men were in lines for the
prayers and they waited for him until they feared that the sun would rise
before they had prayed. Then it was agreed that *Abd ar-Rahman ibn *Awf
should lead them, and they had already prayed one of the two prayer cycles
when the Prophet appeared. 'Abd ar-Rahman was about to draw back, but
the Prophet motioned him to remain where he was, and he himself joined
the congregation. When they had uttered the greeting of Peace which ends
the prayer the Prophet rose and prayed the cycle he had missed. When he
had finished he said: "Ye have done well, for verily a Prophet dieth not
until he hath been led in prayer by a pious man of his people." ^

Meantime in Medina, about ten days after the army had marched out,
one of the four believers who had stayed behind, Abu Khaythamah of

' IX, 9a. I.I. 897. ' W.1012.

Tabuk 319

Khazraj, went out into his garden amid the shade of the trees on a day of
great heat. There were two huts there, and he found that his wives had
sprinkled each one with water, and in each a meal was prepared for him,
and water had been cooled in earthenware jars for him to drink. He stood
at the threshold of one of the huts and said: "The Messenger of God is in
the glare of the sun, blown on by hot winds, and Abu Khaythamah is in
cool shade with food made ready for him, and two fair women, abiding at
rest on his own estate!" Then he turned to his wives and said: "By God, I
will not enter either of your huts until I have first overtaken the Messenger,
so make ready provisions for me." They did so, and saddling his camel, he
set off with all speed in the wake of the army.

About half-way between Medina and Jerusalem, the Prophet said one
night: "Tomorrow, God willing, ye will come unto the spring of Tabuk. Ye
will not reach it until the sun be hot. And whoso cometh unto it, let him not
touch its water until I myself be come." But two of the first men to reach it
drank from the spring, and when the main part of the army arrived the
water had become less than a trickle. The Prophet severely rebuked the two
men, and then told some of the others to scoop up what water they could in
the hollows of their hands and to empty it into an old skin. When enough
had been collected he washed his hands and face in it and poured it over the
rock which covered the mouth of the spring, passing his hands over it and
praying as God willed him to pray. Then with a sound as of thunder the
water gushed forth; and it continued to flow undiminished after all the
men had satisfied their needs. He turned to Mu'adh' who was beside him
and said: "It may be, O Mu'adh, that thou shalt live to see this place as a
vale of many gardens." And it was as he had said.

He had been disappointed and saddened by the default of the four
believers who had failed to march out with the army, not least as regards
Abu Khaythamah, who overtook them a few days after they had reached
Tabuk. When the lone rider was seen approaching, but before he was
distinguishable, the Prophet said, as it were in prayer: "Be Abu Khaytha-
mah!" Then, when the man rode up and greeted him, he said: "Alas for
thee, Abii Khaythamah!"; but when told what had happened, he blessed
him.

The army stayed for twenty days in Tabuk. It was evident that the
rumours of danger from the Byzantines had been quite unfounded. Nor
was it yet time on the other hand, for the promised conquest of Syria. But
during those days the Prophet made a treaty of peace with a Christian and
Jewish community who lived at the head of the gulf of 'Aqabah and along
its eastern coast. In return for a yearly tribute they were to be guaranteed
protection by the Islamic state. He then returned to Medina with the main
part of the army, having sent Khalid with four hundred and twenty horse
to Dumat al-Jandal, to the north-east of Tabuk. This important stronghold
was on the road to Iraq from Medina, as well as being on one of the roads
to Syria. Ukaydir, its Christian ruler, was surprised when out hunting by
Khahd, who took him prisoner and brought him to Medina, where he
made an alliance with the Prophet, and entered Islam.

Seep. 304.

LXXX

After Tabuk

"IKE the return from Badr, the return from Tabuk was fraught with

sadness: another daughter of the Prophet, Umm Kulthum, had died

E J during his absence; and this time her husband also had been absent.
The Prophet prayed at her grave; and he said to *Uthman that if he had had
another unwedded daughter he would have given her to him in marriage.

Those of the hypocrites who had not taken part in the expedition now
went to the Prophet and made their excuses, which he accepted, while
reminding them that God knew their most secret thoughts. But he told the
three believers who had stayed behind to depart from him until God
should decide their case, and he gave orders that no one should speak to
them. For fifty days they lived as outcasts; but after the dawn prayer on the
fiftieth day, the Prophet announced in the Mosque that God had relented
to them. In the words of the Revelation which had just come: When the
earth for all its vastness was straitened for them and when their souls were
straitened, and they had come to think there is no refuge from God except
in Him, then turned He unto them that they might turn in repentance unto
Him. Verily God, He is the Ever-Relenting, the MercifuV The congrega-
tion rejoiced, and many of them hastened from the Mosque to inform the
three men of the good news. The youngest of them, Ka'b ibn Malik, had
pitched a solitary tent for himself outside the town, and he told in after
years how he had heard a horse galloping towards him and a voice that
shouted "Good tidings, Ka'b," whereupon he had thrown himself down in
prostration to God, for there could be no good tiding except one. Then he
went to the Mosque. "When I greeted the Prophet," he said, "his face
shone with gladness as he said to me: 'Rejoice in the best day that hath
come upon thee since thy mother bore thee.' I said: 'Is this from thee,
O Messenger of God, or is it from God?' 'Nay, it is from God,' he
answered. When the Messenger was glad on account of good tidings, his
face would ever have the brightness of a moon."^

Since his entry into Islam, Malik, the leader of Hawazin, had not been
idle. The Bani Thaqif might still pride themselves on the impregnability of
Ta'if ; but they were now surrounded on all sides, far and wide, by Muslim
communities, and any caravan they sent out was liable to be attacked and
despoiled. They could not even send camels and sheep out to pasture
without the risk that they would be captured by Malik's men, who
moreover let it be known that they would put to death any man of Thaqif

> lX,ii8. ^ U.9ii.

After Tabuk 32.1

who fell into their hands unless he abandoned his polytheism. After some
months they decided that they had no option but to send a delegation to the
Prophet saying that they would accept Islam, and asking for a document
which would guarantee the safety of their pepple and their animals and
their land.

The return from Tabuk had been at the beginning of Ramadan, and in
that same month the delegation arrived from Ta'if. They were hospitably
received and a tent was pitched for them not far from the Mosque. It
followed as a matter of course that if they entered Islam their territory
would be under the protection of the Islamic state. But the Prophet did not
agree to some of their secondary requests. They asked him to let them keep
al-Lat undestroyed for three years, and when he refused they asked for two
years and then one, until finally they were reduced to asking for a month's
respite, which also met with a refusal. They then begged him not to make
them destroy their idols with their own hands, and to give them a
dispensation not to say the five daily prayers. He insisted that they should
pray, saying: 'There is no good in a religion that hath no canonical
prayer." But he agreed to excuse them from destroying their idols with
their own hands; and he ordered Mughlrah, 'Urwah's nephew, to return
with the delegation and to destroy al-Lat, taking with him Abu Sufyan
from Mecca to assist him.

After their entry into Islam the delegates fasted the remainder of
Ramadan in Medina, and then returned to Ta*if. Abu Sufyan joined the
party in Mecca, but it was Mughirah single-handed who destroyed the
idol. His clan took certain measures to protect him, fearing that he might
suffer the same fate as 'Urwah; but no one sought to avenge the goddess,
despite the lamentations of a multitude of women who bewailed her loss.

Two of the men who most deplored the surrender of the city were
neither citizens nor devotees of its "lady". When the Prophet had marched
on Mecca, Abu 'Amir, the father of Hanzaiah, and Wahshithe javelineer
had both taken refuge in Ta'if, which seemed an impregnable fortress. But
where could they now take refuge.^ Abu 'Amir fled to Syria, and it was
there that he died, "a fugitive, lonely and homeless", thus fulfilling the
curse he had unwittingly laid upon himself.' Wahshi was still hesitating
where to go when a man of Thaqif assured him that the Prophet would put
no man to death who entered Islam. So he went to Medina, and going to
the Prophet, he made his formal attestation. Even as he did so one of the
believers who was present recognised the slayer of Hamzah and said: "O
Messenger of God, this is Wahshi." "Let him be," said the Prophet, "for
one man's Islam is dearer to me than the slaying of a thousand disbeliev-
ers." Then his eyes rested on the black face in front of him. "Art thou
indeed Wahshi?" he said, adding at the man's assent: "Be seated, and tell
me how thou slewest Hamzah." When the javelineer had finished, the
Prophet said: '*Alas, take thou thy face from me, let me not look upon thee
again. "-

As to the cousin of Abu 'Amir, Ibn Ubayy, in the month after Tabuk he
fell seriously ill, and after a few weeks it was clear that he was dying. The

' Seep. iz8. ^ II. $66.

322 Muhammad

traditional accounts differ as to the state of soul in which he died, but all
are unanimous that the Prophet led the funeral prayer for him, and prayed
beside his grave when he had been buried. According to one tradition,
when the Prophet had already taken his stand for the prayer, *Umar went
to him and protested against the bestowal of such grace upon a hypocrite,
but the Prophet answered him, saying with a smile: "Stand thou behind
me, 'Umar. I have been given the choice, and I have chosen. It hath been
said unto me: Ask forgiveness for them, or ask it not, though thou ask
forgiveness for them seventy times, yet will not God forgive them. ' And did
I know that God would forgive him if I prayed more than seventy times, I
would increase the number of my supplications."- Then he led the prayer
and walked beside the bier to the cemetery and stood beside his grave. Not
long afterwards the verse was revealed, with reference to the hypocrites:
And never pray the funeral prayer over one of them who dieth, nor stand
beside his grave, for verily they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and
died in their iniquity? But according to other traditions^ this verse had been
already revealed as part of the Revelation which came immediately after
the return from Tabuk. Nor was it any longer applicable to Ibn Ubayy, for
the Prophet visited him in his illness and found that the imminence of death
had changed him. He asked the Prophet to give him a garment of his own in
which he could be shrouded, and to accompany his body to the grave,
which the Prophet agreed to do. Then again he spoke, saying: "O
Messenger of God, I hope that thou wilt pray beside my bier, and ask
forgiveness of God for my sins." Again the Prophet assented, and after his
death he did as he had promised. The dead man's son 'Abd Allah was
present on all these occasions.

Thaqif were not the only tribe to send envoys to the Prophet. Many other
envoys came to Medina from all over Arabia in this "year of deputations",
as the ninth year of the Hijrah is called. Amongst others were those which
came from different parts of the Yemen, including letters from four
Himyarite princes who announced their acceptance of Islam and their
repudiation of polytheism and its adherents. The Prophet replied cordial-
ly; he stressed the obligations of Islam, bidding them treat well his
messengers whom he would send to collect the taxes incumbent upon
Muslims, Christians and Jews, and specifying that '*a Jew or a Christian
who keepeth his religion shall not be turned away from it but shall pay the
poll tax . . . and shall have the protection of God and His Messenger".^ A
recent Revelation had said, with regard to religious differences: For each
V(/e have appointed a law and a path; and if God^ had wished He could
have made you one people . , . So vie with one another in good works.
Unto God ye will all be brought back and He will then inform you of those
things wherein ye differed.'^

Not all the deputations were conclusive. 'Amir ibn Tufayl, the man
responsible for the massacre at Bi'r Ma'unah, was now chief of the Bani

' IX, 80. 1.1.917. ' IX, 84.

* Mirkhond, Rawdat as-Safa', II, vol. 2, pp. 671-z, citing earlier sources. See also B.
XXII1,76.

' IJ. 956. ' Seep. 48, note 3. ' V, 48.

After Tabuk 3x3

*Amir, and under pressure from his tribe he came to Medina. But he
himself was an arrogant man, and in return for his Islam he asked the
Prophet to name him as his successor. "It is not for thee nor thy people,'*
said the Prophet. "Then give me the tent-dwellers and keep thou the
villagers," said 'Amir. "Not so," said the Prophet, "but into thy hand will I
put the reins of the cavalry, for thou art an excellent horseman." This was
not enough for the Bedouin chief. "Am I to have naught?" he said
disdainfully, adding as he turned away: "I will fill all the land with
horsemen and footmen against thee." When he had gone, the Prophet
prayed: "O God, guide the Bani *Amir, and rid Islam of 'Amir the son of
Tufayl"; and 'Amir was smitten with an abcess and died before he reached
home. His tribe sent another deputation, and a pact was at last concluded.
The poet Labid was one of the envoys, and he now entered Islam. He is
reported to have had some intention of abjuring poetry thereafter. "In
exchange, God hath given me the Koran," he said. But he none the less
continued to compose poems until his death, placing his gifts at the service
of his religion.

The time of the Pilgrimage was approaching, and the Prophet appointed
Abu Bakr to take charge of it. He set off from Medina with three hundred
men, but not long after they had gone there came a Revelation which it was
important that all the pilgrims to Mecca, both Muslims and polytheists,
should hear. "None shall be a transmitter from me but a man of the people
of my house," said the Prophet, and he told 'All to set out with all speed
and overtake the pilgrims. He was to recite the revealed verses in the valley
of Mina and he was also to make it clear that no one after that year would
be allowed to go round the Holy House naked, and that idolaters were
making the Pilgrimage for the last time.

When *Ali overtook the others, Abu Bakr asked him if he had come to
command the expedition, but he replied that he was under his command,
so they went on together and Abu Bakr led the prayers and preached the
sermons. On the day of the Feast, when all the pilgrims were assembled in
the valley of Mina to sacrifice their animals, 'AU proclaimed the Divine
Message. The gist of it was that the idolaters were given four months'
respite to come and go as they pleased in safety, but after that God and His
Messenger would be free from any obligation towards them. War was
declared upon them, and they were to be slain or taken captive wherever
they were found,' Two exceptions were made: as regards those idolaters
who had a special treaty with the Prophet and had kept it faithfully, the
treaty was to be held as valid until its term ran out; and if any individual
idolater sought protection he was to be granted it and conveyed to a place
of safety, having first been instructed in Islam. There was also a revealed
verse which seemed to be addressed especially to the recent converts of
Mecca who might fear that the exclusion of idolaters would not only
deprive them of opportunities for trade but also of many rich gifts: O ye

' The absence of the Names of Mercy stresses the rigorous nature of this message, which
starkly opens the Surah of Repentance (IX), the only surah in the Koran that does not begin
with Bismi Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim.

324 Muhammad

who believe, the idolaters are unclean. Therefore let them not come nigh
unto the inviolable mosque after this their year. And if ye fear poverty,
God will enrich you of his Bounty. Verily God is All-Knowing, Infinitely
Wise:

The Prophet remained at home for nearly the whole of the following year,
which was the tenth since his emigration. Ibrahim could already walk and
was beginning to talk. Hasan and Husayn had now a small sister named
after her aunt Zaynab, and Fatimah was expecting a fourth child. Other
intimates of the household were the three sons of Ja'far. They were now the
stepsons of Abu Bakr, who had married their mother Asma', and she also
was expecting a child. Particularly dear to the Prophet was her sister Umm
al-FadL In Mecca it had been his custom to visit her often, and since
*Abbas's move to Medina he was once more a frequent visitor at their
house. Their eldest son, after whom she was named, had now grown to
manhood and received many signs of favour. On at least one occasion,
when it was Maymunah's turn to house the Prophet, she invited her
nephew Fadl to stay with her.

Deputations still continued to come as in the previous year, and one of
these was from the Christians of Najran, who sought to make a pact with
the Prophet. They were of the Byzantine rite, and in the past had received
rich subsidies from Constantinople. The delegates, sixty in number, were
received by the Prophet in the Mosque, and when the time for their prayer
came he allowed them to pray it there, which they did, facing towards the
east.

At the audiences which they had with him during their stay, many points
of doctrine were touched on, and there were some disagreements between
him and them concerning the person of Jesus. Then came the Revelation:
Verily the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam. He created
him of dust,' then said to him ''Bel", and he was. This is the truth from thy
Lord, so be not of the doubters. And whoso contendeth with thee about
him after the knowledge that hath reached thee, say: Come ye, and let us
summon our sons and your sons and our women and your women and
ourselves and yourselves. Then we will imprecate, putting God's curse on
those who lie.^ The Prophet recited this Revelation to the Christians and
invited them to meet with him and his family and to settle their dispute in
the way here suggested. They said they would think about it, and the next
day when they came to the Prophet they saw that *Ali was with him, and
behind them were Fatimah and her two sons. The Prophet was wearing a
large cloak and he now spread it wide enough to enfold them all in it,
including himself. For this reason the five of them are reverently known as
"the People of the Cloak", As to the Christians, they said they were not
prepared to carry their disagreement so far as imprecation; and the
Prophet made with them a favourable treaty according to which, in return

' IX, z8.

^ The words "in his mother's womb" are to be understood, for there is no question of
Jesus having been created fully grown as Adam was. The parallel between the two creations
lies in the direct Divine intervention for both.

^ K. Ill, 59-61.

After Tabuk 3Z5

for the payment of taxes, they were to have the full protection of the
Islamic state for themselves and their churches and other possessions.

The untroubled happiness of the early months of this year came to an
end with the illness of Ibrahim. It was soon clear that he would not survive.
He was tended by his mother and her sister Sirm. The Prophet visited him
continually, and was with him when he was dying. As the child breathed
his last, he took him in his arms, and tears flowed from his eyes. His
forbidding of vociferous lamentation had made prevalent the notion that
all expressions of woe at bereavement were to be discouraged, and the
mistaken idea still lingered on in many minds. "O Messenger of God," said
'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf, who was present, "this is what thou hast
forbidden. When the Muslims see thee weeping, they too will weep." The
Prophet continued to weep, and when he could find his voice he said: "Not
this do I forbid. These are the promptings of tenderness and mercy, and he
that is not merciful, unto him shall no mercy be shown. O Ibrahim, if it
were not that the promise of reunion is sure, and that this is a path which
all must tread, and that the last of us shall overtake the first, verily we
should grieve for thee with a yet greater sorrow. Yet are we stricken indeed
with sorrow for thee, O Ibrahim. The eye weepeth, and the heart grieveth,
nor say we aught that would offend the Lord."^

He spoke words of comfort now to Mariyah and Sirln, assuring them
that Ibrahim was in Paradise. Then, having left them for a brief while, he
returned with 'Abbas and Fadl. The young man washed the body and laid
it out, while the two older men sat and watched him. Then it was borne
forth to the cemetery on its little bier. The Prophet led the funeral prayer
and prayed again for his son at the edge of the grave after Usamah and Fadl
had laid in it the body. When the earth had been heaped over it, he still
lingered at the graveside, and callirig for a skin of water he bade them
sprinkle it over the grave. Some unevenness had been left in the earth, and
noticing this he said: "When one of you doeth aught, let him do it to
perfection." And smoothing it over with his hand, he said of his own
particular action: "No harm it doth nor good, but it giveth relief unto the
soul of the afflicted."^

He had already stressed more than once the need to make perfection
one's aim in every earthly act, and many of his sayings indicate that this
aim must be unworldly and detached. 'Ali is said to have summed up the
Prophet's guidance in this respect as follows: "Do for this world as if to live
for ever and for the next as if to die upon the morrow." To be always ready
to depart is to be detached. "Be in this world as a stranger or as a
passer-by,"^ the Prophet said.

On the day of Ibrahim's death, not long after his burial, there was an
eclipse of the sun; but when some of the people attributed it to the
Prophet's bereavement he said: "The sun and the moon are two signs of the
signs of God. Their light is not dimmed for any man's death. If ye see them
ecHpsed, ye should pray until they be clear." *

• l.S. 1/1,88-9. ^ ibid. ' B.LXXXI,3. * I.S,ibid.

LXXXI

The Degrees

SPIRITUAL motives were poorly represented in many of the conver-
sions which now took place; and it was not long before there came the
following further Revelation: The Arabs of the desert say: We have
faith. Say thou: Faith ye have not, but say "we submit", for faith hath not
yet entered your hearts. And if ye obey God and His Messenger, He will in
no wise witholdfrom you your meed for what ye do?

This verse completed the hierarchy of Islam, submission without faith
being the lowest degree* The higher degrees, that is the degrees of faith, are
the theme - or rather one of the themes - of the Verse of Light which had
been revealed to the Prophet some months before the truce of Hudaybiyah.
Throughout the Koran light means faith, and four degrees of enlighten-
ment are here mentioned:

God is the Light of the heavens and of the earth. His light is as a niche
wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass; the glass is as it were a shining
planet. It is kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the east nor of
the west. The oil thereof wellnigh blazeth in splendour even though the
fire have not touched it. Light upon light. God guideth to His light
whom he will; and God citeth symbols for men; arid God is of all things
the Knower.'

There is firstly, in ascending order, the niche, that is illuminated but not
in itself luminous. Then there is the crystalline glass, above which is the
splendour of the oil; and finally there is the flame itself. The mention of
symbols recalls another verse which begins with the same sentence: God
citeth symbols for men, but which adds the reason: that they may
meditate-,^ and the whole of the Light Verse is clearly a summons to
meditation. But as regards the different degrees, the Koran is here only
implicit. Elsewhere, starting from some of the earliest Revelations, it is
more explicit. In one of these'* mankind is divided into three groups, those
of the right, those of the left and the foremost. Those of the right are the
saved, those of the left the damned. As to the foremost, that is, those of the
highest degree, who are also called the slaves ofGod,^ it is said of them that

' XLIX,T4. ^ XXIV, 35. ' UX,zi. * LVI,7-40.

^ LXVI, 6; LXXXIX, Z9. The Koran uses the term slaves of God in two senses, one
altogether inclusive — even Satan is His slave - and the other exceedingly exclusive, as in the
above verses, and also in the following, which is addressed to Satan: As to My slaves, over
them thou hast no power. {XVII, 65.)

The Degrees 3 27

they are brought near to God, thi^ epithet being also used of the
Archangels to distinguish them from the Angels. Other early Revelations
introduced a third degree into the hierarchy of the faithful, the righteous,
who are between the foremost and those of the right. The relationship
between these three degrees may be inferred from what the Koran says
about their blessings in Paradise. Whereas those of the right are given pure
flowing water to drink, it is the foremost alone who have direct access to
the highest fountains, but the righteous are given a draught which has been
blended at one or another of these fountains,' which suggests that they are
those who follow in the footsteps of the foremost.

Degrees of superiority are also implied by the Revelation in its mention
of the heart. In speaking of the majority, it says: Not blind are the eyes, but
blind are the hearts within the breasts} The Prophet on the other hand, like
Prophets before him, said that his heart was awake, which means that its
eye was open; and the Koran indicates that this possibility can be shared, if
only in some measure, by others also, for it sometimes addresses itself
directly to those who have hearts} It is reported that of Abii Bakr the
Prophet said: "He surpasseth you not through much fasting and prayer but
he surpasseth you in virtue of something that is fixed in his heart."'*

The Prophet often spoke of the superiority of some of his followers over
others; and in Mecca, at the time of the victory, when in his presence
Khalid retorted angrily against 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf, who had
rebuked him, he said: "Gently Khalid, let be my Companions; for if thou
hadst Mount Uhud all in gold and didst spend it in the way of God thou
wouldst not attain unto the merit of any man of my Companions."^

According to the Revelation the differences between one degree and
another are vaster in the next world than in this: Behold how We have
favoured some of them above others; and verily the Hereafter is greater in
degrees and greater in hierarchic precedences} And the Prophet said: "The
people of Paradise will behold the high place that is above them even as
they now behold the bright planet^ on the eastern or western horizon."''
The disparities between man and man were also reflected in the manner of
his teaching, some of which was reserved for the few who would under-
stand it. Abu Hurayrah said: "I have treasured in my memory two stores of
knowledge which I had from the Messenger of God. One of them have I
divulged; but if I divulged the other ye would cut this throat,"* and he
pointed to his own throat.

During the return march to Medina after the victories of Mecca and
Hunayn the Prophet said to some of his Companions: "We have returned
from the Lesser Holy War to the Greater Holy War." And when one of
them asked: "What is the Greater Holy War, O Messenger of God?"
he answered: "The war against the soul."'" The soul of fallen man
is divided against itself. Of its lowest aspect the Koran says: Verily the soul
commandeth unto evil}^ The better part of it, that is the conscience,
is named the ever-upbraiding soul;^^ and it is this which wages the

1 LXXVI,5;LXXXIII,i7. ^ XXII. 46. See also p. 89.

^ XIl, III; XIII, 19, etc. al- Hakim at-Tirmidhi, Nawddir al-usiii

' U.853. 6 XVII, zi. 7 Venus. » M,U,4.

" B. Ill, 41. Bayhaqi,Z«W. " XII, 53. LXXV, 2.

328 Muhammad

Greater Holy War, with the help of the Spirit, against the lower soul.

Finally there is the soul which is at peace, that is the whole soul no longer
divided against itself, after the battle has been won. Such are the souls of
those who have reached the highest degree, at the level of the foremost, the
slaves of God, the near. The Koran addresses this perfect soul in the words:
O thou soul which art at peace, return unto thy Lord with gladness that is
thine in Him and His in thee^ Enter thou among My slaves. Enter thou My
Paradise.- The twofold nature of this blessing recalls the Koran's promise
of two Paradises for the blessed soul, and also the Prophet's reference to his
own ultimate state as "The meeting with my Lord and Paradise". For the
soul which is at peace, the entry into My paradise corresponds to "the
meeting with my Lord*', whereas the entry among My slaves corresponds
to "Paradise", that is the second accompanying Paradise. The Supreme
Paradise, that of God, "the meeting with my Lord", is none other than
Ridwdn, The following verse had recently been revealed: God hath
promised the believers, the men and the women, gardens that are watered
by flowing rivers wherein they shall dwell immortal, abodes of excellence
in the Paradises of Eden, And Ridwdn from God is greater. That is the
Infinite Beatitude?

The Prophet also spoke of the supreme degree insofar as it can be
reached during life on earth, and this saying is one of those which are called
holy traditions because they transmit the direct words of God: "My slave
ceaseth not to draw near unto Me with devotions of his free will until I love
him; and when I love him I am the hearing with which he heareth and the
sight with which he seeth and the hand with which he graspeth and the foot
on which he walketh."'*

The chief of the voluntary devotions is dhikr Allah, which may be
rendered "remembrance of God or calling upon God". In one of the first
Revelations the Prophet was commanded: Invoke in remembrance the
Name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with an utter devotion.^ A
later Revelation says: Verily the ritual prayer preserveth from iniquity and
abomination; but the remembrance of God is greater J' With reference to
the heart's blindness and its cure the Prophet said: "For everything there is
a polish that taketh away rust, and the polish of the heart is remembrance
of God."' And when asked who would rank highest in God's esteem on the
Day of Resurrection he answered: "The men and the women who invoke
God much in remembrance." And when asked if they would rank even
above the man who had fought in God's path he answered: "Even though
he wielded his sword amongst infidels and idolaters until it was broken and
smeared with blood, yet would the rememberer of God have a more
excellent degree than his."*

* That is, with mutual Ridwdn (see p. 95),

LXXXIX, Z7-30. ' IX, 72.
' B.,LXXXI,37. ' LXX1II,8. * XXIX, 45.
' Bayhaqi, Dfl Wfl*. « Tir.XLV.

LXXXII

The Future

HE Prophet said: "The best of my people are my generation; then

they that come after them; then they that come after them";' and he

JL rejoiced in the outstanding members of his generation, that is in
those whom he considered as his Companions. To ten of them who visited
him on one occasion he promised Paradise. These were Abii Bakr, 'Umar,
'Uthman, 'All, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf, Abu *Ubaydah, Talhah,
Zubayr, Sa'd of Zuhrah, and Sa'id the son of Zayd the Hanif. He had
already given the same assurance to some of them before, and the books of
his sayings have recorded much of his great praises of the Promised Ten,
and of others to whom he also gave good tidings of Paradise, as when he
affirmed: "For three doth Paradise long, for *Ali, *Ammar^ and Salman."'
To Fatimah he said: "Thou art the highest of the women of the people of
Paradise, excepting only the Virgin Mary, daughter of 'Imran.'"' In
prediction of the great part to be played by 'All as one of the chief
transmitters of his wisdom to future generations, he said: "I am the city of
knowledge, and 'All is its gate";^ and he said in general: "My Companions
are even as the stars: whichsoever of them ye follow, ye shall be rightly
guided."^

When the men returned from Tabuk they had said amongst themselves
that their days of fighting were now at an end; and this idea was so
strengthened by the coming of the various delegations, which continued
throughout the tenth year, that many of the believers set about selling their
arms and their armour. But when the Prophet heard of this he forbade
them to do so, saying: "A body of my people will not cease to fight for the
truth until the coming forth of the Antichrist." He also said: "If ye knew
that which I know, ye would laugh little and weep much"' and "No time
Cometh upon you but is followed by a worse. "'^ He warned them that his
people would surely follow the Jews and the Christians upon the path of
degeneration: "Ye will follow them that were before you span by span and
cubit by cubit until if they went down the hole of a poisonous reptile ye
would follow them down."*^ And, in speaking of the lowest ebb which
would be reached by mankind in general before the end, he said: "Islam
began as a stranger and will become once more as a stranger.'^ Yet he

' B.LXII,!. ' See p. 79. ' Tir.XLVI,33.

" A. H. Ill, 64. The Koran tells how the Angels said to Mary: He (God) hath chosen thee
above all the women of the worlds (HI, 24).

' Tir.XLVI,20. ' F.XXVI,Manaqibas-Sahabah.

7 B,LXXXI,Z7, ' B.XCII, 14. ' M.XLVII,6. M.I,z32.

330 Muhammad

promised that God would not abandon them: "God will send to this
community, at the head of every hundred years, one who will renew for it
its religion.'" On another occasion those of his Companions who were
with him heard him exclaim more than once: "O my brethren!'* They said
to him: Messenger of God, are we not thy brethren?" and he answered:
"Ye are my companions. But my brethren are amongst those who have not
yet come'* - in other versions "who will come in the last days". The way
he spoke suggested that he was referring to persons of great spiritual
eminence.

He also prophesied that despite the evils of the latter days there will arise
a caliph whom men will speak of as the Mahdi, which means the rightly
guided: "The Mahdi will be of my stock and he will be broad of forehead
and aquiline of nose. He will fill the earth with right and with justice even
as it hath been filled with wrong and oppression. Seven years will he
reign."^

But finally, towards the end of his reign or after it, the Antichrist would
come, "a man blind in his right eye in which all light is extinguished, even
as it were a grape",^ and he would cause great corruption on earth, and by
his power to work marvels he would win more and more men to his side.
But there would be a body of believers who would fight against him.
"When they are pressing on to fight," said the Prophet, "even while they
straighten their lines for the prayer when it is called, Jesus the son of Mary
will descend and will lead them in the prayer. And the enemy of God, when
he seeth Jesus, will melt even as salt melteth in water. If he were let be, he
would melt unto perishing; but God will slay him at the hand of Jesus, who
will show them his blood upon his lance."''

He also spoke of many of the signs by which men might know that the
coming to pass of these final things was near; and as one of the signs he
mentioned the excessive height of the buildings that men would build. But
that prophecy was made on a great occasion which must be chronicled
more fully, on the authority of 'Umar's son *Abd Allah, repeating the
words of his father.

'Umar said: "One day when we were sitting with the Messenger of God
there came unto us a man whose clothes were of exceedmg whiteness and
whose hair was of exceeding blackness, nor were there any signs of travel
upon him, although none of us knew him. He sat down knee unto knee
opposite the Prophet, upon whose thighs he placed the palms of his hands,
saying: 'O Muhammad, tell me what is the surrender [isldm)\ The
Messenger of God answered him saying: The surrender is to testify that
there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's Messenger, to
perform the prayer, bestow the alms, fast Ramadan and make, if thou
canst, the pilgrimage to the Holy House.' He said: 'Thou hast spoken
truly,' and we were amazed that having questioned him he should corrobo-
rate him. Then he said: 'Tell me what is faith {tmdn)' He answered: *To
believe in God and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers and the
Last Day, and to believe that no good or evil cometh but by His Provi-
dence.' 'Thou hast spoken truly,' he said, and then: 'Tell me what is

A.D.XXXVI,i. i A.D.XXXV,4. ^ M. Lll, 20. " M.LII,9.

The Future 331

excellence {ihsan),' He answered: 'To worship God as if thou sawest Him,
for if thou seest Him not, yet seeth He thee.' Thou hast spoken truly,' he
said, and then: 'Tell me of the Hour.' He answered: 'The questioned
thereof knoweth no better than the questioner.' He said: 'Then tell me of
its signs.' He answered: 'That the slave-girl shall give birth to her mistress;^
and that those who were but barefoot naked needy herdsmen shall build
buildings ever higher and higher.' Then the stranger went away, and I
stayed a while after he had gone; and the Prophet said to me: 'O 'Umar,
knowest thou the questioner, who he was?' I said: 'God and His Messenger
know best.' He said: 'It was Gabriel. He came unto you to teach you your
religion.'"^

^ A woman giving birth to a daughter will thereby become merely a slave-girl to her by
reason of latter-day children's disrespect for their parents. The second part of the saying
predirts not only a chaos in the social order but also the ultimate triumph of the sedentary
way of life over the nomadic way» that is, the final seal set upon Cain's murder of Abel.

2 M.I,i.

LXXXIII

The Farewell
Pilgrimage

WHEN the Prophet was in Medina during Ramadan it was his
wont to make a spiritual retreat in the Mosque during the middle
ten days of the month, and some of his Companions would do
the same. But this year, having kept the ten appointed days, he invited his
Companions to remain in retreat with him for another ten days, that is
until the end of the month, which they did. It was in Ramadan every year
that Gabriel would come to him to make sure that nothing of the
Revelation had slipped from his memory; and this year, after the retreat,
the Prophet confided to Fatimah, as a secret not yet to be told to others:
"Gabriel reciteth the Koran unto me and 1 unto him once every year; but
this year he hath recited it with me twice. I cannot but think that my time
hath come."^

The month of Shawwal passed; and in the eleventh month of the year it
was proclaimed throughout Medina that the Prophet himself would lead
the Pilgrimage. The news was sent to the desert tribes, and multitudes
flocked to the oasis from all directions, glad of the opportunity of
accompanying the Messenger at every step of the way. The Pilgrimage
would be unlike any that had taken place for hundreds of years: the
pilgrims would all be worshippers of the One God, and no idolater would
desecrate the Holy House with the performance of any heathen rites. Five
days before the end of the month the Prophet set out from Medina at the
head of over thirty thousand men and women. All his wives were present,
each in her howdah, escorted by ' Abd ar-Rahman ibn * Awf and 'Uthman
ibn * Affan. Abu Bakr was accompanied by his wife, Asma', and at one of
the first halts she gave birth to a son, whom they named Muhammad. Abu
Bakr was for sending her back to Medina, but the Prophet told him to tell
her to perform the greater ablution and then to consecrate herself for the
Pilgrimage, and to go with them as she had planned.

At sunset on the tenth day after leaving Medina the Prophet reached the
pass through which he had entered Mecca on the day of the victory. There
he spent the night, and the next morning he rode down to the Hollow,
When he came within sight of the Ka*bah he raised his hands in reverence.

» B.LXI,25.

The Farewell Pilgrimage 333

letting fall the rein of his camel, which he then took up in his left hand, and
with his right hand held out in supplication he prayed: '*0 God, increase
this House in the honour and magnification and bounty and reverence and
piety that it receiveth from mankind!"^ He entered the Mosque and made
the seven rounds of the Ka'bah, after which he prayed at the Station of
Abraham. Then going out to Safa he went seven times between it and
Marwah, and those who were with him did their best to record in their
memories the exact words of praise and prayer that he uttered at every
station.

Returning to the Mosque, he now entered the Ka'bah with the keeper of
its keys, *Uthman of *Abd ad-Dar, taking with him also Bilal and Usamah
as before. But that evening when he visited ' A'ishah in her tent she noticed
that he was sad and asked him why. "I have done a thing today,'* he said,
"that I would I had not done. I entered the House; and it may be that a man
of my people" - he meant in years to come - "will not be able to enter it
and that he will therefore feel some disquiet in his soul. And we were only
ordered to go round it, not ordered to enter it."-

Again he refused to lodge in any house in Mecca despite the plea of Umm
Hani' that he would stay with her; and on the eighth day of the new moon
he rode to the valley of Mina followed by the rest of the pilgrims. Having
spent the night there, he rode on after daybreak to 'Arafah, a broad valley
about thirteen miles east of Mecca, just outside the sacred precinct.
'Arafah is on the road to Ta'if and is bounded north and east by the
mountains of Ta'if. But separate from these, and surrounded on all sides
by the valley, is a hill which is also named 'Arafah or the Mount of Mercy.
It is the central part of this pilgrimage station, which extends none the less
over most of the lower ground; and it was on this hill that the Prophet took
up his station that day.

Some of the Meccans expressed surprise that he had gone so far, for
while the other pilgrims went on to 'Arafah Quraysh had been accustomed
to remain within the sacred precinct saying: "We are the people of God."
But he said that Abraham had ordained the day on 'Arafah as an essential
part of the Pilgrimage, and that Quraysh had forsaken his practice in this
respect. The Prophet stressed that day the antiquity of the Pilgrimage, and
the words "Abraham's legacy" were often on his lips.

To impress on all the tribes that henceforth blood feuds were at an end
throughout the whole community of Islam and that each man*s life and
possessions were sacrosanct, he sent as crier throughout the multitude
Safwan's brother Rabl'ah, who had a powerful voice, and told him to
proclaim: "The Messenger of God saith: See ye what month this is?" They
were silent, and he answered: "The holy month." Then he asked: "See ye
what land this is.^" Again they were silent and he answered: "The holy
land." Then he said: "See ye what day this is?" And again it was he who
gave the answer: "The day of the Greater Pilgrimage." Then he proclaimed
according to the Prophet's instructions: "Verily God hath made inviolable
for you each other's blood and each other's property, until ye meet your
Lord, even as He hath made inviolable this your day, in this your land, in
this your month."

W. 1097, 2 W.I 100.

334 Muhammad

When the sun had passed its zenith the Prophet preached a sermon
which he began, after praising God, with the words: "Hear me, O people,
for I know not if ever I shall meet with you in this place after this year,"
Then he exhorted them to treat one another well and gave them many
reminders of what was commanded and what was forbidden. Finally he
said: ' 'I have left amongst you that which, if ye hold fast to it, shall preserve
you from all error, a clear indication, the Book of God and the vvord of His
Prophet. O people, hear my words and understand." He then imparted to
them a Revelation which he had just received and which completed the
Koran, for it was the last passage to be revealed: This day the disbelievers
despair of prevailing against your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me!
This day have I perfected for you your religion and fulfilled My favour
unto you, and it hath been My good pleasure to choose Islam for you as
your religion.^

He ended his brief sermon with an earnest question: "O people, have I
faithfully delivered unto you my message?" A powerful murmur of assent,
"O God, yea!", arose from thousands of throats and the vibrant words
Allahumma na'm rolled like thunder throughout the valley. The Prophet
raised his forefinger and said: '*0 God, bear witness!"^

The ritual prayers were then prayed and the rest of the Day of 'Arafah, as
it is called, was spent in meditation and supplication. But as soon as the sun
had set the Prophet mounted his camel, and bidding Usamah mount
behind him he rode down from the hill and across the valley in the
direction of Mecca, followed by his fellow pilgrims. It was the tradition to
ride quickly at this point, but at the first signs of excess he cried out:
"Gendy, gently I In quietness of soul! And let the strong amongst you have
a care for the weak!" They spent the night at Muzdalifah, which is within
the sacred precinct, and there they collected small pebbles with which to
stone Satan, who is represented by three pillars at ' Aqabah in the valley of
Mina. Sawdah asked the Prophet's permission to leave MuzdaUfah in the
small hours. Being large in stature and heavier than most of the women,
she had suffered more from the heat and from the exertions of travel, and
she was anxious to perform the rite of stoning before the multitude arrived.
So he sent her on ahead in the company of Umm Sulaym, escorted by ' Abd
Allah, one of the sons of 'Abbas.

The Prophet himself prayed the dawn prayer in MuzdaUfah, and then
led the pilgrims to 'Aqabah, with Fadl mounted behind him on his camel. It
was at this very spot on this very day twelve years previously that he had
met the six men of Khazraj who had pledged their allegiance to him, thus
preparing the way for the First and Second 'Aqabah pacts. After the
stoning, the animals were sacrificed, and the Prophet called for a man to
shave his head. The pilgrims gathered round him in the hopes of obtaining
some locks of his hair, khu Bakr remarked afterwards on the contrast
between the Khafid of Uhud and the Trench and the Khalid who now said:
"O Messenger of God, thy forelock! Give it unto none but me, my father
and my mother by thy ransom!"^ And when the Prophet gave it him he
pressed it reverently against his eyes and his lips.

V,3. ' 1.1.969- ^ W.I 108.

The Farewell Pilgrimage 335

The Prophet now bade the pilgrims visit the Ka*bah and return to spend
that night and the two next nights in Mina. He himself waited until the late
afternoon. Then his wives accompanied him to Mecca, all but 'A'ishah,
who was not in a state of ritual purity. A few days later, as soon as she was
able, he sent her outside the sacred precinct, escorted by her brother 'Abd
ar-Rahman, There she consecrated herself afresh, and going to Mecca she
made the rounds of the Ka'bah.

Having finished the campaign in the Yemen, the troop of three hundred
horse that the Prophet had sent out in Ramadan was now approaching
Mecca from the south. *Ali had ridden on ahead of his men, eager to meet
the Prophet as soon as possible and to make with him the Pilgrimage,
which he now had done. Amongst the state's fifth of the spoils there was
enough linen to clothe the whole army, but 'All had decided that it,must be
handed over to the Prophet untouched. In his absence, however, the man
he had left in charge was persuaded to lend each man a new change of
clothes out of the linen. The change was much needed for they had been
away from home for nearly three months. When they were not far from
entering the city, 'All rode out to meet them and was amazed to see the
transformation that had taken place. ''I gave them the garments/' said the
deputy commander, "that their appearance might be more seemly when
they entered in among the people." The men all knew that everyone in
Mecca would now be wearing their finest clothes in honour of the Feast,
and they were anxious to look their best. But 'All felt he could not
countenance such a liberty and he ordered them to put on their old clothes
again and return the new ones to the spoils. Great resentment was felt
throughout the army on this account, and when the Prophet heard of it he
said: "O people, blame not 'All, for he is too scrupulous in the path of God
to be blamed." But these words were not sufficient, or it may be that they
were only heard by a few, and the resentment continued.

On the way back to Medina one of the troops bitterly complained of 'All
to the Prophet, whose face changed colour. "Am I not nearer to the
believers than their own selves?" he said; and when the man assented, he
added: "Whose nearest I am, his nearest 'All is." Later on the journey,
when they had halted at Ghadlr al-Khumm, he gathered all the people
together, and taking *Ali by the hand he repeated these words, to which he
added the prayer: "O God, be the friend of him who is his friend, and the
foe of him who is his foe" ; and the murmurings against 'All were silenced. '

One of the deputations of the previous year had been from a Christian tribe
in Yamamah, the Bani Hanifah, whose territory lay along the eastern
boundary of Najd. They had agreed to enter Islam; but now one of their
men, Musaylimah by name, claimed that he too was a Prophet, and not
long after the return of the pilgrims from Mecca the following letter was
brought to Medina by two envoys from Yamamah: "From Musaylimah
the Messenger of God to Muhammad the Messenger of God, peace be on
thee! It hath been given me to share with thee the authority. Half the earth
is ours, and half belongeth unto Quraysh, although they are a people who

' Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa n-nihayah, V, 209.

33^ Muhammad

transgress." The Prophet asked the envoys what they thought of the matter
and they said: "Our opinion is even as his." "By God," said the Prophet,
"if it were not that envoys may not be slain I would cut off your heads."
Then he dictated a letter for them to give to their master: "From Mu-
hammad the Messenger of God to Musaylimah the liar. Peace be on him
who foUoweth the guidance! Verily the earth is God's; He causeth whom
He will of His slaves to inherit it; and the final issue is in favour of the
pious". ^

Two other impostors arose about this time, Tulayhah, a chief of theBani
Asad, and Aswad ibn Ka'b of the Yemen. The Yemenite had a brief success
and rapidly gained control over a wide area, but his pride soon turned
many of his followers against him; and after a few months he >yas
assassinated. Tulayhah was finally defeated by Khalid, and renouncing all
his claims he became a strength for Islam. As to Musaylimah, it was his
destiny to be pierced by a javelin from the hand of Wahshi, while 'Abd
Allah, the son of Nusaybah, struck him a mortal blow with his sword. But
this defeat took place several months later. For the moment, as the moon of
the Pilgrimage waned and as the eleventh year of the Hijrah opened, all
these impostors were potential dangers to Islam; and there was also a
woman of Tamtm named Sajah, who claimed to be a prophetess. But the
Prophet was not disposed to take immediate action against any of them.
His attention was turned towards the north, and in the last days of Safar,
the second month of the year, that is the end of May in ad 632, he decided
that the time had come to reverse the defeat of Mut'ah. Having ordered
preparations to be made for a campaign against those Arab tribes of Syria
which had flanked the imperial legions on the day when Zayd and Ja'far
were killed, he called Zayd's son Usamah to him and put him, despite his
youth, in command of the three-thousand-strong army.

U.965.

LXXXIV

The Choice

THE Prophet continually spoke of Paradise, and when he did so it
was as a man who sees what he describes. This impression was
confirmed by many other signs, as for example when he once
stretched out his hand as if to take something, and then drew it back. He
said nothing, but some of those who were with him noticed his action and
questioned him about it. "I saw Paradise," he said, "and I reached out for a
cluster of its grapes. Had I taken it, ye would have eaten of it as long as the
world endureth."^ They had grown accustomed to thinking of him as one
who is already in a sense in the Hereafter. Perhaps it was pardy for this
reason that when he spoke of his death, and when he inferred indirectly, as
sometimes now he did, that it might be imminent, his words made little
impression on them. Moreover, despite his sixty-three years, he still had
the stature and grace of a much younger man, his eyes were still bright, and
there were only a few white hairs in his black hair. Yet on one occasion a
remark of his when he was with his wives was sufficiently ominous to
prompt the question as to which of them would be the first to rejoin him in
the next world. He replied: "She of the longest reach will be the soonest of
you to join me,"^ whereupon they set about measuring their arms, one
against another. Presumably, though it is not recorded, Sawdah was the
winner of this contest, for she was the tallest of them and in general the
largest. Zaynab, on the other hand, was a small woman, with an arm to
match. But it was Zaynab who died first of them all, some ten years later.
Only then did they realise that by "she of the longest reach" the Prophet
had meant the most giving, for Zaynab was exceedingly generous, like her
predecessor of the same name who had been called "the mother of the
poor".

One night, not long after the Prophet had ordered preparations for the
Syrian campaign and before the army had left, he called to a freedman of
his in the small hours, Abu Muwayhibah, and said: "I have been command-
ed to pray forgiveness for the people of the cemetery, so come thou with
me." They went out together, and when they reached the Baqf the Prophet
said: "Peace be on you, O people of the graves. Rejoice in your state, how
much better it is than the state of men now living. Dissensions come Hke
waves of darkest night, the one following hard upon the other, each worse
than the last." Then he turned to Abu Muwayhibah and said: "I have been
offered the keys of the treasuries of this world and immortality therein

B.XVI,8. ' I.S. VIII, 76-7.

338 Muhammad

followed by Paradise, and I have been given the choice betv^een that and
meeting my Lord and Paradise," "O dearer than my father and my
mother," said Abu Muwayhibah, "take the keys of the treasuries of this
world and immortality therein followed by Paradise." But he answered
him saying: 'i have already chosen the meeting with my Lord and
Paradise." Then he prayed for forgiveness for the people of the Baqi'.'

It was at dawn that day, or perhaps the next day, that his head ached as
he had never known it to ache, but he none the less went to the Mosque and
after leading the prayer he mounted the pulpit and invoked blessings on the
martyrs of Uhud, as if - so it was said afterwards — he were doing it for the
last time. Then he said: "There is a slave amongst the slaves of God unto
whom God hath offered the choice between this world and that which is
with Him, and the slave hath chosen that which is with God." When he
said this Abu Bakr wept, for he knew that the Prophet was speaking of
himself and that the choice meant imminent death. The Prophet saw that
he had understood,, and telling him not to weep, he said: "O people, the
most beneficent of men unto me in his <;ompanionship and in that which
his hand bestoweth is Abu Bakr; and if I were to take from all mankind an
inseparable friend he would be Abu Bakr - but companionship and
brotherhood of faith is ours until God unite us in His Presence." It was on
that occasion that he said, looking round at the multiple entrances into the
Mosque from the private houses which surrounded it: "Behold these doors
that intrude upon the Mosque. Let them be walled up, save only the door
of Abu Bakr."' Before leaving the pulpit he said: "I go before you, and I am
your witness. Your tryst with me is at the Pool,^ which verily I behold from
here where now I stand. I fear not for you that ye will set up gods beside
God; but I fear for you this world, lest ye seek to rival one another in
worldly gains."'*

From the Mosque he went back to the apartment of Maymunah, whose
turn it was to house him. The effort of speech to the congregation had
increased his fever; and after an hour or two, wishing to let 'A'ishah know
that he was ill, he went briefly to visit her. She also was suffering from a
headache, and when he entered her room she moaned: "Oh my head!"
"Nay, 'A'ishah," said the Prophet, "it is oh my head!" But he looked at her
searchingly, as if to seek some sign of mortal sickness in her face, and
finding none he said: "I wished that it might be" — he meant her death —
"whilst yet I was alive, that I might ask forgiveness for thee and invoke
mercy upon thee and shroud thee and pray over thee and bury thee."
'A'ishah could see that he was ill and she was alarmed at the tone of his
voice, but she tried to make light of it, and succeeded in bringing a brief
smile to his face. Then he repeated: "Nay, but it is oh my head,"' and
returned to Maymunah.

He tried to do as he did when he was well, and continued to lead the
prayers in the Mosque as usual; but his illness increased, until the hour

' I.I, looo. - i.I. 1006.

' Fed by Kawthar, the celestial river given to the Prophet, the Pool is a lake where the
behevers quench their thirst on their entry into Paradise.
' B.LXIV,i7. ^ I.S.II/z, 10.

The Choke 339

came when he could pray only in a sitting position, and he told the
congregation that they also should pray seated. On his return to the
apartment of the wife whose day it was, he asked her *'Where am 1
tomorrow?" and she named the wife to whom he would go. "And where
the day after tomorrow?" he asked. Again she answered; but struck by his
insistence, and sensing that he was impatient to be with *A'ishah, she told
the other wives, whereupon they all came to him and said: "O Messenger
of God, we have given our days with you unto our sister 'A'ishah."' He
accepted their gift, but was now too weak to walk unaided, so 'Abbas and
'All helped him to ' A'ishah's apartment.

Word came to him that there was much criticism of his choice of so
young a man as Usamah to command the army for the Syrian campaign,
and that there was in consequence a certain slackening in the preparations.
He felt the need to answer his critics, but his fever was intense, so he said to
his wives: "Pour over me seven skins of water from different wells that I
may go out unto the men and exhort them." Hafsah brought a tub to
'A'ishah's room and the other wives brought water, and he sat in the tub
while they poured it over him. Then they helped him to dress and bound up
his head, and two of the men took him between them to the Mosque, where
he sat in the pulpit and addressed those who were assembled there, saying:
"O people, dispatch Usamah's troop, for though ye question his leadership
even as ye questioned the leadership of his father before him, yet is he
worthy of the command,^ even as his father was worthy of it." He
descended from the pulpit and was helped back to 'A'ishah*s house.
Preparations were hastened on, and Usamah went out with his army as far
as Jurf, where they encamped, about three miles to the north of Medina.

At the next call to prayer the Prophet felt he could no longer lead it even
though he remained seated, so he said to his wives: "Tell Abii Bakr to lead
the people in prayer." But 'A'ishah feared that it would greatly pain her
father to take the place of the Prophet. "O Messenger of God," she said,
"Abu Bakr is a very sensitive man, not strong of voice and much given to
weeping when he reciteth the Koran." "Tell him to lead the prayer," said
the Prophet, as if she had not spoken. She tried again, this time suggesting
that 'Umar should take his place. "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer," he
reiterated. 'A'ishah had thrown a glance of appeal at Hafsah, who now
began to speak, but the Prophet silenced her with the words: "Ye are even
as the women that were with Joseph.^ Tell Abii Bakr to lead the people in
prayer. Let the blamer find fault and let the ambitious aspire. God and the
believers will not have it otherwise."'^ He repeated the last sentence three
times, and for the rest of his illness Abu Bakr led the prayer.

The Prophet lay much of the time with his head resting on *A'ishah's
breast or on her lap; but when Fatimah came 'A'ishah would withdraw a
little to allow_the father and daughter some privacy together, and at one of
these visits *A*ishah saw him whisper something to his daughter, who

« I.S. 11/2,30.

^ When, after some delay, the campaign took place, Usamah proved the truth of these
words.

^ Referring to Potiphar's wilful wife and her friends; see K. XII, 3 1-3.
' I.S. 11/2,20.

340 Muhammad

thereupon began to weep. Then he confided to her another secret and she
smiled through her tears. As she was leaving, 'A'ishah asked her w^hat he
had said, and she answered that they were secrets she could not divulge.
But later she said to her: "The Prophet told me he would die in that illness
whereof he died, and therefore I wept. Then he told me that I would be the
first of the people of his house to follow him, and therefore 1 laughed."^

He suffered much pain in his illness, and one day when it was at its worst
his wife Safiyyah said to him: *'0 Prophet of God, would that I had what
thou hast!" whereupon some of the other wives exchanged glances and
whispered one to another that this was hypocrisy. The Prophet saw them
and said: *'Go rinse your mouths." They asked him why, and he said: 'Tor
your maligning of your companion. By God, she speaketh the truth in all
sincerity. "-

Umm Ayman was in constant attendance, and she kept her son in-
formed. He had already resolved to advance no further and to remain in his
camp at Jurf until God should decide. But one morning the news was such
that he came to Medina and went in tears to the Prophet, who was too ill
that day to speak, though he was fully conscious. Usamah bent over him
and kissed him, and the Prophet raised his hand, palm upwards, to ask and
to receive blessings from Heaven. Then he made a gesture as if to empty the
contents of his hand upon Usamah, who returned sadly to his camp.

The next day was Monday the twelfth of Rabf I in the eleventh year of
Islam, that is, the eighth day of June in the year ad 63 2. Early that morning
the Prophet's fever abated, and although he was exceedingly weak the call
to prayer decided him to go to the Mosque. The prayer had already begun
when he entered, and the people were almost drawn away from it for joy at
the sight of him, but he motioned them to continue. For a moment he stood
to watch them and his face shone with gladness as he marked the piety of
their demeanour. Then, still radiant, he made his way forward, helped by
Fadl and by Thawban, one of his freedmen. "I never saw the Prophet's face
more beautiful than it was at that hour," said Anas. Abu Bakr had been
conscious of the stir throughout the ranks behind him. He knew that it
could only have one cause, and that the man he now heard approaching
must be the Prophet, So without turning his head, he stepped back, but the
Prophet placed his hand on his shoulder and pressed him forwards again in
front of the congregation, saying "Lead thou the prayer," while he himself
sat on the right of Abu Bakr and prayed seated.

Great was the rejoicing at this apparent recovery, and not long after the
prayer Usamah arrived again from his camp, expecting to find the Prophet
worse and overjoyed to find him better. "Set forth, with the blessings of
God," said the Prophet. So Usamah bade him farewell, and rode back to
Jurf, where he told his men to make ready for the northward march.
Meantime Abu Bakr had taken leave to go as far as Upper Medina. Already
before his marriage to Asma', he had long been betrothed to Habibah, the
daughter of Kharijah, the Khazrajite with whom he had lodged ten years
ago on his arrival in the oasis, and they had recently been married.
Habibah still lived with her family at Sunh, where he now went to visit her.

' B.LXII,12. 2 I.S.VIII,9i.

The Choice 341

The Prophet returned to 'A'ishah's apartment helped by Fadi and
Thawban. 'All and 'Abbas followed them there, but did not stay long, and
when they came out some men who were passing asked 'Aii how the
Prophet was. "Praise be to God," said 'All, "he is well." But when the
questioners had gone on their way *Abbas took 'All's hand and said: "I
swear I recognise death in the face of God's Messenger, even as I have ever
been able to recognise it in the faces of our clansmen. So let us go and speak
with him. If his authority is to be vested in us, then we shall know it; and if
in other than us, then will we ask him to commend us unto the people, that
they may treat us well." But 'All said: "By God, 1 will not, for if the
authority be withheld from us by him, none after him will ever give it us.'"

The Prophet had now returned to his couch and was lying with his head
upon 'A'ishah's breast as if all his strength had been used. None the less,
when her brother 'Abd ar-Rahman entered the room with a tooth-stick in
his hand, she saw the Prophet looking at it in such a way that she knew he
wanted it. So she took it from her brother and gnawed upon it to soften it.
Then she gave it to the Prophet, who rubbed his teeth with it vigorously
despite his weakness.

Not long afterwards he lost consciousness, and 'A'ishah thought it was
the onset of death, but after an hour he opened his eyes. She then
remembered his having said to her: "No Prophet is taken by death until he
hath been shown his place in Paradise and then offered the choice, to live or
to die." And she understood that this had been accomplished, and that he
had returned from a vision of the Hereafter. "He will not now choose us!"
she said to herself. Then she heard him murmur: "With the supreme
communion in Paradise, with those upon whom God hath showered His
favour, the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous, most
excellent for communion are they,^ Again she heard him murmur: "O
God, with the supreme communion,"' and these were the last words she
heard him speak. Gradually his head grew heavier upon her breast, until
the other wives began to lament, and 'A'ishah laid his head on a pillow and
joined them in lamentation.

' I.I. loii. 2 K.IV,69. ' LS. 11/2,27-

LXXXV

The Succession and
the Burial

THE signs which *Abbas had been the first to see had soon become
apparent to others; and before the advent of death Umm Ayman
had sent word to her son that the Prophet was dying. Camp had
already been raised for the northward march but Usamah immediately
gave orders for the return to Medina, Many of the older Companions were
with the army, including 'Umar, and when they were met on their arrival in
the city with the news that the death had taken place *Umar refused to
believe it. He had misinterpreted a verse of the Koran which he had
thought to mean that the Prophet would outlive them all and other
generations to come, and he now stood in the Mosque and addressed the
people, assuring them that the Prophet was merely absent in the Spirit and
that he would return. While he was speaking thus, Abu Bakr arrived on
horseback from Sunh, for news had quickly spread over the whole oasis.
Without pausing to speak to anyone, he went straight to his daughter's
house and drew back from the Prophet's face the cloak with which they
had covered him. He gazed at him, and then kissed him. '^Dearer than my
father and my mother," he said, "thou hast tasted the death which God
decreed for thee. No death after that shall ever befall thee." Reverently he
drew the cloak over his face again, and went out to the throng of men
whom 'Umar was still addressing. "Gently, 'Umar!" he said as he
approached. "Hear me speak!" 'Umar paid no attention and persisted, but
recognising the voice of Abu Bakr the people left 'Umar and turned to hear
what the older man had to tell them. After giving praise to God, he said:
"O people, whoso hath been wont to worship Muhammad - verily
Muhammad is dead; and whoso hath been wont to worship God - verily
God is Living and dieth not." Then he recited the following verses which
had been revealed after the battle of Uhud: Muhammad is but a messenger,
and messengers have passed away before him. If he die or be slain, will ye
then turn upon your heels? Whoso turneth upon his heels will thereby do
no hurt unto God; and God will reward the thankful}

It was as if the people had not known of the revelation of this verse until
Abu Bakr recited it that day. They took it from him, and it was on all their

The Succession and the Burial 343

tongues. 'Umar said afterwards: "When I heard Abu Bakr recite that verse,
I was so astounded that I fell to the ground. My legs would no longer carry
me, and I knew that God's Messenger had died."

'All had now withdrawn to his house, and with him were Zubayr and
Talhah. The rest of the Emigrants gathered round Abij Bakr and they were
joined by Usayd and many of his clan. But most of the Helpers, of Aws as
well as Khazraj, had assembled in the hall of the Bani Sa'idah of whom Sa*d
ibn 'Ubadah was chief, and word was brought to Abu Bakr and *Umar that
they were debating there the question as to where the authority should lie,
now that the Prophet was dead. They had gladly accepted his authority;
but failing him, many of them were inclined to think that the sons of
Qaylah should be ruled by none except a man of Yathrib, and it appeared
that they were about to pledge their allegiance to Sa'd.

*Umar urged Abu Bakr to go with him to the hall, and Abii 'Ubaydah
went with them. Sa'd was ill and he was lying in the middle of the hall,
wrapped in a cloak. On behalf of him another of the Helpers was about to
address the assembly when the three men of Quraysh entered, so he
included them in his speech, which began, after praise for God, with the
words: "We are the Helpers of God and the fighting force of Islam; and ye,
O Emigrants, are of us, for a group of your people have settled amongst
us." The speaker continued in the same vein, glorifying the Helpers, and
while giving the Emigrants a share of that glory, deliberately failing to
recognise the unique position that they held in themselves as the first
Islamic community. When he had finished *Umar was about to speak, but
Abu Bakr silenced him and spoke himself, tactfully but firmly, reiterating
the praise of the Helpers, but pointing out that the community of Islam was
now spread throughout Arabia, and that the Arabs as a whole would not
accept the authority of anyone other than a man of Quraysh, for Quraysh
held a unique and central position amongst them. In conclusion he took
*Umar and Abu 'Ubaydah each by a hand and said: "I offer you one of
these two men. Pledge your allegiance to whichever of these ye will." Then
another of the Helpers rose and suggested that there should be two
authorities, and this led to a heated argument, until finally 'Umar inter-
vened, saying: "O Helpers, know ye not that the Messenger of God
ordered Abu Bakr to lead the prayer?" "We know it," they answered, and
he said: "Then which of you will willingly take precedence over him?"
"God forbid that we should take precedence over him!"' they said,
whereupon 'Umar seized the hand of Abii Bakr and pledged allegiance to
him, followed by Abii 'Ubaydah and others of the Emigrants who had now
joined them. Then all the Helpers who were present likewise pledged their
allegiance to Abu Bakr, with the exception of Sa'd, who never acknow-
ledged him as caliph,^ and who eventually migrated to Syria.

Whatever they had decided in the hall, it would have been unacceptable
for anyone to have led the prayers in the Mosque in Medina except Abu
Bakr, so long as he was there; and the next day at dawn, before leading the
prayer, he sat in the pulpit, and 'Umar rose and addressed the assembly,

' LS.n/z,23.

^ In Arabic KhalTfah, the full title being Khahfat Rasul Allah, Viceregent for the
Messenger of God.

344 Muhammad

bidding them pledge their allegiance to Abu Bakr, whom he described as
"the best of you, the Companion of God*s Messenger, the second of two
when they were both in the cave."^ A recent Revelation had recalled the
privilege of Abu Bakr to have been the Prophet's sole Companion at this
crucial moment;' and v^ith one voice the whole congregation swore fealty
to him - all except 'Ali, who did so later.^

Then Abu Bakr gave praise and thanks to God and addressed them,
saying: "I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of
you. If I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. Sincere regard for
truth is loyalty and disregard for truth is treachery. The weak amongst you
shall be strong with me until I have secured his rights, if God will; and the
strong amongst you shall be weak with me until I have wrested from him
the rights of others, if God will. Obey me so long as I obey God and His
Messenger. But if I disobey God and his Messenger, ye owe me no
obedience. Arise for your prayer, God have mercy upon you!"^

After the prayer the Prophet's household and his family decided that
they must prepare him for burial, but they were in disagreement as to how
it should be done. Then God cast a sleep upon them all, and in his sleep
each man heard a voice say: "Wash the Prophet with his garment upon
him." So they went to 'A'ishah's apartment, which for the moment she had
vacated, and Aws ibn Khawll, a Khazrajite, begged leave to represent the
Helpers, saying: "I adjure thee by God, O 'All, and by our share in His
Messenger!," and 'All allowed him to enter. 'Abbas and his sons Fadl and
Qitham helped 'All to turn the body, while Usamah poured water over it,
helped by Shuqran, one of the Prophet's freedmen, and 'All passed his
hand over every part of the long woollen garment. "Dearer than my father
and my mother," he said, "how excellent art thou, in Ufe and in death!"
Even after one day, the Prophet's body seemed to be sunken merely in
sleep, except that there was no breathing and no pulse, no warmth and no
suppleness.

The Companions now disagreed as to where he should be buried. It
seemed to many that his grave should be near the graves of his three
daughters and Ibrahim and the Companions whom he himself had buried
and prayed over, in the Baqi al-Gharqad, while others thought he should
be buried in the Mosque; but Abu Bakr remembered having heard him say
"No Prophet dieth but is buried where he died," so the grave was dug in the
floor of 'A'ishah's room near the couch where he was lying.

' K. IX, 40.
^ See p. 119.

^ After the death of Fatimah some months later, *Ali said to Abu Bakr: "We know well
thy pre-eminence and what God hath bestowed upon thee, and we are not jealous of any
benefit that He hath caused to come unto thee. But thou didst confront us with a thing
accomplished, leaving us no choice, and we felt that we had seme claim therein for our
nearness of kinship unto the Messenger of God." Then Abu Bakr's eyes filled with tears and
he said: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, I had rather that all should be well between me
and the kindred of God's Messenger than between me and mine own kindred"; and at noon
that day in the Mosque he publicly exonerated 'Ali for not yet having recognised him as
caliph, whereupon 'All affirmed the right of Abu Bakr and pledged his allegiance to hira {B.
LXIV, 38).

* I.I. 1017.

The Succession and the Burial 345

Then all the people of Medina visited him and prayed over him. They
came in relays, and each small gathering prayed the funeral prayer - firstly
the men, group after group, and then when all the men had visited him the
women came, and after them the children. That night he was laid in his
grave by 'All and the others who had prepared him for burial.

Great was the sorrow in the City of Light, as Medina now is called. The
Companions rebuked each other for weeping, but wept themselves. "Not
for him do I weep," said Umm Ayman, when questioned about her tears,
"Know I not that he hath gone to that which is better for him than this
world ,^ But I weep for the tidings of Heaven which have been cut off from
us."^ It was indeed as if a great door had been closed. Yet they remembered
that he had said: "What have I to do with this world.? I and this world are
as a rider and a tree beneath which he taketh shelter. Then he goeth on his
way, and leaveth it behind him."- He had said this that they, each one of
them, might say it of themselves; and if the door had now closed, it would
be open for the faithful at death. They still had in their ears the sound of his
saying: "I go before you, and I am your witness. Your tryst with me is at the
Pool." Having delivered his message in this world, he had gone to fulfil it in
the Hereafter, where he would continue to be, for them and for others, but
without the limitations of life on earth, the Key of Mercy,^ the Key of
Paradise, the Spirit of Truth, the Happiness of God.

Verily God and His angels whelm in blessings the prophet, O ye who
believe, invoke blessings upon him, and give him greetings of Peace.

' I.S.II/z,83-4. ^ l.M. XXXVII, 3.

^ This and the other titles which follow it are taken from the traditional litanies of the
names of the Prophet.

Quraysh of the Hollow

(Fihr is directly descended from Ishmael in the male line. The descendants of Fihr who
came to be known as Quraysh of the Outskirts are not shown in the following tree)

Fihr, known as quraysh

I —
Ghalib

I *
Lu'ayy

al-HARITH

(clan of Abu 'Ubaydah)

*AMIR

(clan of
Suhayl)

SAHM

(clan of 'Amr
b.al-'As)

Ka'b

Husays 'adT

(clan of 'Umar)

'Amr

Murrah

JUMAy

(clanof 'Utiiman
b. Maz'un)

Kilab TAYM Yaqazah
(clan of Abu Bakr 1
and Talhah)

makhzOm
(clan of AbQ Salamah
1 and Khalid b. al-WalTd)

Qusayy zuhrah

(clan of the Prophet's mother

Aminah, his cousin Sa'd,
and *Abd ar-Rahman b. *Awf)

'abd ad- DAR 'Abdu Manaf
(clan of Mus'ab)

'abd

*ABDU SHAMS

(clan of 'Uthman b.
'Affan and Abu
Sufyan b. Harb)

HASHIM al-MUTTAUB

'Abd al-Muttalib

'Abd al-*Uzzah

ASAD_

(clan of Khadgah^Waraqah

and az-Zubayr

I b. al-*Awwam)

NAWFAL

(clan of MutUm)

al-Harith

Zubayr
6 other sons

1 \ \ 1 I \ I

az- Abu Talib Abu Lahab 'Abd Allah al-' Abbas Hamzah 6

daughters

Ja*far

'AIT

MUHAMMAD

The names of founders of clans are given in small capitals. These are followed by the names of
one or more of their descendants who were closely connected with the Prophet or else of
historical importance.

A Note on the Pronunciation
of Arabic Names

The Arabs sometimes call themselves "the people of Dad" because they
claim that they alone possess the letter dad, which sounds like a heavy "d"
pronounced far back in the mouth. It is normally transcribed, as here, by d.
Analogously, s, t and ? stand for other characteristic heavy back con-
sonants, whereas d, s, t, and z stand for the corresponding front con-
sonants, which are pronounced more or less as in Enghsh. The letter h is a
tensely breathed h sound; q isa guttural k sound; th is to be pronounced as
these letters are in think, dh as they are in this, gh like a French r, kh like ch
in Scottish loch. The asper * denotes the letter 'ayn, which is produced by
narrowing the passage in the depth of the throat and then forcing the
breath through it. The apostrophe ' denotes the '*hamzah of discontinui-
ty," which means a sHght catch in the breath. Since in English initial vowel
sounds are regularly preceded by this catch, the initial hamzah has not
been transcribed here, e.g. Ahmad, not 'Ahmad, The '^hamzah of continui-
ty" indicates the running of two words into one by the elision, at the
beginning of the second word, of the first letter of the definite article al-, the
a of which is always elided except at the beginning of a sentence. This
elision is shown here simply by the omission of the letter in question, e.g.
Abu I'' As, not Abu al-'As; the continuity has the effect of shortening any
long vowel which immediately precedes this hamzah. The first letter of the
Divine Name Allah is also elided except at the beginning of a sentence, or
when it stands alone, e.g. bismi Lldh, But for the sake of simplicity, in the
many compound names which begin with the word 'Abd (slave), the elided
a is written to replace the sound of the uneUded short vowel at the end of
'Abd which, according to the general principle of not transcribing final
short vowels, is not transcribed here, e.g. *Abd Allah not *Abdu Lldh, and
*Abd al'Muttalib not *Abdu l-Muttalib. On the other hand, where the
second element of the compound name begins with a consonant, the final
short vowel of *Abd is exceptionally transcribed, since transcription here
throughout is a guide to pronunciation, and the syllables of a compound
name must be pronounced as if they were the syllables of a single word, e.g.
'Abdu Mandf not 'Abd Mandf.

The short vowels a, i, u are like the vowel sounds of sat, sit, soot; d (or d,
so written to indicate a difference of Arabic spelling but not of pronuncia-
tion) is Uke the vowel sound of bare, but back consonants next to it attract
it to that of bdr; t and u are like the vowel sounds of seen and soon; ay is
between those of sign and sane; aw is like that of cow.

Key to References

K. - The Koran

Biographical and Historical Works

This book is mainly based on the writings of the three following authors of the
eighth and ninth centuries AD:

I.I. = Ibn Ishaq The references are to Wiistenfeld's edition of Strat Rasul
Allah, a life of the Prophet by Muhammad ibn Ishaq in the
annotated recension of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham (I.H.),

I.S. = Ibn Sa'd The references are to the Leyden edition of Kitdb at-Tabaqdt
al-Kabtr by Muhammad ibn Sa'd.

W. = Waqidi The references are to Marsden Jones's edition of Kitdb al-
MaghdzT, a chronicle of the Prophet's campaigns, by Mu-
hammad ibn 'Umar al- Waqidi.

Besides these, there are occasional references to:

A. = Azraql Wiistenfeld's edition of Akhbdr Makkah, a history of Mecca,

by Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Azraqi.
Tab. = Tabari The Leyden edition of Ta'rTkh ar-Rusul wa 'l-Muliik, "The
History of the Messengers and the Kings," by Muhammad
ibn Jarlr at-Tabari, whose Koranic commentary, Tafstr, is
also quoted.

S. = Suhayli The Cairo edition of ar-Rawd al-unuf^ a commentary on Ibn
Ishaq, by 'Abd ar- Rahman ibn 'Abd Allah as-Suhayli.

Collections of Sayings of the Prophet

The references to the following eight traditionists of the ninth century ad are made
according to the system used by Wensinck in his Handbook of Early Mu-
hatnmadan Tradition,

B. = Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
M. = Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-QushayrI
Tir. = Muhammad ibn 'Isa at-Tirmidhi
A.H. = Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal
N. = Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb an-Nasa'i
A.D. = Abii Da'ud as-Sijistam

D. = 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ad-Darimi
I.M. = Muhammed ibn Majah

There are also occasional references to the following eleventh century ad
traditionists whose collections are not included in Wensinck's handbook.

Bay. = Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Bayhaqi, Kitdb as-Sunan al-Kubrd
F. = Husayn b. Mahmud al-Farra' al-Baghawi, Mishkdt al-Masdbth

INDEX OF PERSONS (except Muhammad),
PLACES (except Arabia, Ka'bah Mecca and
Medina), TRIBES (except Quraysh), BOOKS
(except Koran), etc.

Aaron 102,, 271, 318

al-'Abbas^ b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 22, 31, 39,
5of,97, iiof, 129, i39f, 151, i55f,
168, 172, 216, 281, 293, 295ff, 30of,
305f,324f,339, 34if,344

'Abd b. Qusayy 13

'Abd Allah, son of the Prophet 39

'Abd Allah b, al-'Abbas 155

*Abd Allah b, 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy 128,
178, 196, 238f, 249,322

'Abd Allah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib i2ff, 175,
21,24, i7, 3o> 47, 2.52.f

'Abd Allah b.Abi-Bakr 71, ii8f, 132

'Abd Allah b. Abi Umayyah 62, 71, 293,

305,307
'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. al-'As 28 5
'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. Haram 1 1 1, 175,

178,193
'Abd Allah b. Ja'far 270
'Abd Allah b, Jahsh 40, 50, 82, 132, i36f,

156, 189, 191, 193
'Abd Allah b.Jubayr 178, 183
'Abd Allah b. Jud'an 32, 59
'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud 48, 141, i49f, i67f
'Abd Allah b. Rawahah 129, 15 if, 160,

219, 280, 287ff, 313
'Abd Allah b. Sallam 130, 161, 23 1
'Abd Allah b. Suhayl 72, 1 14, 144, 2.53f,

302, 309

'Abd Allah b. Ubayy 108, 128f, i6if, 174!,
178, 190, 196U 2.o3f, 237f£, 244, 249,

25I,32lf

*Abd Allah b. 'Umar 113, 177, 217, 228,
330

'Abd Allah b. Umm Maktum 139, 176

'Abd Allah b. Unays 199

*Abd Allah b. Zayd al-Harithi 1 30

'Abd Allah b. Zayd al-Mazini 336

' Abdu 'Amr see 'Abd ar-Rahman b. 'Awf

'Abd ad-Dar (clan of Quraysh) 7, 20, 82,

89, 108, 113, 139, 142, 151, 180, 182,

189,281,283,300,333
*Abd ad-Dar b. Qusayy 6t
'Abd al-Ka'bah see 'Abd ar-Rahman b. Abi

Bakr

'Abdu Manaf (clan of Quraysh) 7, 20, 65,
90,98f

'Abdu iManaf b. Qusayy 6f, 60
'Abd al-Muttalib (subclan of Quraysh) 5of,
310

'Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashim 8ff, 2of, 24,

27ff, 40, 47
'Abd ar-Rahman b. Abi Bakr 71, 184, 259,

335, 341

'Abd ar-Rahman b. 'Awf 46f, 65, 76, 150,
i54, ^59, ^98* 3i8> 3^5, 32-7, 3^9,
33i

'Abdu Shams (clan of Quraysh) 12, 32, 40,

60, 96, 113, 136, 142, 144, 151, 158,
251,304

'Abdu Shams b, 'Abdi Manaf 8, 40, 60, 72f,
292

'Abd al-'Uzzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib see Abu

Lahab
Abel 24,331
Abrahah i9ff, 299

Abraham iff, i6f, 31,41, 73,75, loi, 122,
128, 212, 248, 254, 271, 277, 300,
333

Abu 'Abs b. Jabr 264
Abu Ahmad b. Jahsh 113
Abii 'Amir b. Sayfi 128, 175, 180, 189,
321

Abu l-'As b. ar-Rabr 40, 71, 151, 156, 158,
23 5 f, 272

Abu Ayyub b. Zayd 124, 132

Abu 'Aziz b. 'Umayr 151

Abu 1-BakhtarT b. Hisham 89ff

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq 32, 46ff, 59, 71, 79,
89f, 97, io3ff, 114, 116, ii8ff, 123,
i32ff, i4of, 146, 149, i64ff, 175, 181,

l84f, 20I, 203, 207, 2Ilf, 222, 230,

240, 245f, 254, 259, 267, 272f, 274,
292, 297f, 3oof, 3o6f, 309, 318, 323f,
3^7, 330, 332-, 334, 338ff, 342ff

Abu Bara' b. Malik 20 if

Abu Basir b. Asid 25 7f

Abu Da'ud as-Sijistam 213, 329

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari 53f

AbuDujanah b. Kharashah 178, i8if,
i84f, z66

Abu 1-Hakam 'Amr see Abu Jahl

Abii Hudhayfah b. 'Utbah 72, 92, 114,
i44f, 150

I . Unlike the text, the index gives the definite article a/- in all those cases where it is normally prefixed to a

name (see p. 8 note). The letter b stands for ibn (son) or bint (daughter),
2.. A^ris the genitive oiAbu.

352. Muhammad

Abu Hurayrah 'Abd ar-Rahman

ad-Dawst 280, 327
Abu Jahl b. Hisham 58f, 62, 64U 79, Ssff,

96, 100, H3f, 116, 139, 142, 144,

i48ff, 156, 160, 164, 228, 299, 303,

309

Abujanda] b. Suhayl 25 3f, 257
Abu Khaythamah *Abd Allah b.

Khaythamah 3i8f
Abu Lahab b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 29, 39f, 50,

7of,76,88f,92,98, 116, i39f, 153,

301,305

Abu Lubabah b. 'Abd al Mundhir 169,

229ff, 234f

Abu Mas*ud ath-Thaqafi see 'Amr b.

Umayyah
Abu Muwayhibah 337f
Abu I-Qasim 37, 58
Abu Qays b. Abi Anas 57
Abu Qubays^ 3, ii, 32, 139, 28of, 298f
Abu Quhafah b. 'Amir 32, 132, 2981, 301
AbuRafi' {slave of al-' Abbas) 153, i68,

282, 299

Abu Sabrah b. Abl Ruhm 72, 82,113,145
Abu Salamah b, 'Abd al-Asad 40, 50, 63,

72, 82, 92, 113, 163, 199, 206, 283
Abu Sufyan b. Harb 65, 70, 73, 96, 136,

i38ff, 142, i54f, 158, "180, 182, i89f,

196, 207f, 215, 220f, 225ff, 29lf,

295ff, 301,308, 321
Abu Sufyan b. al-Harith 39, 71, 93, 143,

153,^93,305^
Abu Talhah al-Ansari 168
Abu Talib b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 13, 28ff, 32,

39, 5off, 64, 70, 88f, 92f, 96ff, 113
Abu 'Ubaydah b. al-Jarrah 46, i86f, 289,

2-98,329,343
AbuWahbb. 'Amr 41
al-Abwa* 27

Abyssinia (n) i9f, 31, 8off, 91, 106, 108,
1 14, 135, 173, 106, 259, 270,
278, 282, 284, 302

'Ad (tribe) 56, 105

Adat 114

'Adal (tribe) 222

Adam 3, 26, 102, 191, 212, 324

'Addas 99

Adhdkhir 299

'AdI (clan of Quraysh) 32, 73, 139, 251
*Adi b. an-Najjar (subclan of Khazraj)
123

'Adi b. Hatim 3 1 5f
'Affan 47

'Afra' b. 'Ubayd 1 5 2, 1 5 5
Ahabish (tribes) 250
Ahmad 47

'A'ishah b.AbTBakr7i, io5f, 116, i32ff,
i64ff, 184, 192, 195, 206f, 220, 24off,

I. Place-names are in italics.

259, 266, 27off, 276f, 279, 291, 315,
333, 335, 338ff, 344

al-Akhnas b. SharTq 100, 142, 200

Alexandria 260

'All b. Abi l-'As 158

'All b. Abl 7"alib 39, 41, 46, 5of, 70, 96,
loi, 114, 117, 128, 139, 141, 147,
151, i63f, 169, i8if, 185, 188, 191,
203f, 2n, 223, 232, 244, 252, 254,
261, 266f, 272f, 28if, 285, 292f, 299f,
315, 318, 323ff, 329, 335, 339, 341,
343f

'All b. Umayyah 144, 150
'Amilah (tribe) 317
al-Amin 34,40,42,47, 117
Aminah b. Wahb 17, 21 ff, 27, 23 1
'Amir (clan of Quraysh) 72, 100, 142, 151,
. 155

'Amir b, Fuhayrah 79, ii8f, 134, 20 if
'Amir b. al-Hadrami 144
'Amir b. Lu'ayy 100
'Amir b. Sa'sa'ah (tribe) 31, 20iff, 215,
. 3"f

'Amir b. Tufayl 322f

'Ammar b. Yasir 79, 329

'Amr (clan of Aws) i2of, 123

'Amr b. 'Abd al-Wudd 223

'Amr b. Abi Sufyan 155

'Amrb.al-'As 8iff, 114, 190, 220, 227,

283ff, 289ff
'Amr b. Asad 3 6
'Amr b. al-Hadrami 139, 144
'Amr b. Husays 347
'Amr b- al-Jamuh 193
'Amrb.Nufayl 73
'Amr b. ar-Rabi' 156
'Amr b. Sa'd 231
'Amr b. Su'da 230
'Amr b. Umayyah ad-Damri 20 if
'Amr b. Umayyah ath-Thaqafi 64, 98
Anas b. Malik i67f, 181, 186, 265, 340
Anasb. Nadr 186
Ansar see Helpers
Antichrist 329f
Antioch 313

'Aqabah 105, 108, 11 iff, 124, i29f, 141,

175, 181,268, 334
'Aqabah (gulf) 122, 319
'Aqanqal i42f, 287

'Aqil b. Abl Talib 33, 39, 70, 143, 151,

155,^85
'Aqiq 120, Z20, 242
al-Aqra' b. Habis 3iof
'Arafah 333f

al-Arqam b. 'Abdi Manaf 63f, 70, 86
Arwa b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 5 1, 70, 82, 98
Arwa b, Kurayz 98, 258
al-'Asb.Wa'ilii4

Index 353

Asad (clan of Quraysh) i6£, 32, 34, 40,

89ff,97» 140* Mi, 144
Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzzah 347
Asad b. Hashim 28

Asad b. Khuzaymah (tribe) 40, 73, 113,

132, 199,215,252,336
As'ad b. Zurarah io8ff, 112, 124, 129
Ashamah see Negus
Ashja' (tribe) 207, 215, 225, 297
'Asim b. Thabit 181, i99f
Asiam (tribe) 231, 248f, 264, 269
Asma'b. AbiBakryi, 116, n8f, i32f
Asma' b. Umays 51,82, 270, 282, 288f,

324,332,340
'Asma' b. at-Harith 28 2f
ai-Aswad b. 'Abd al-Asad 146
al-Aswad b. Ka'b 336
al-Aswad b. Nawfal 71, 97
'Atikah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 33, 62, 72, 90,

. 139, 2.9,3, 3
'Atikah b. 'Amir 72
'Atikah b. Murrah 294
'Awf b. al-Harith 124, i47ff, 152
'Awn b. Ja'far 270

Aws (tribe) 8, $6(y io8ff, 121, 123, iz6ff,
139, 151, 154, 161, 169, 171, i73f,
i76ff, 180, i9of, 195, i99f, 203, 217,
222, 224, 229, 231, 237, 244, 300,
318, 343

Aws b. Khawli 344

Awtds 304, 306

al-'Awwam b. Khuwaylid 36

Ayman b. 'Ubayd 37, 306

'Ayyash b. Abi Rabi'ah i i4ff, 156

al-Azraqi (Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah) 300

Baca 2
Badhan 260

Badri^Sif, 153, 157, i6of, i63f, 167, 169,
i7of, i73ff, 190, 20of, 207ff, 225,
231, 243, 258, 283, 285, 287, i93»
^95, 306,^2.0

Bahira 29 f

Bahrain 133

Bakr (tribe) 249, 253, 291, 299
Ball (tribe) 289
Balqd' ^jj

BaqVal-Gharqad 129, 206, 259, 337f, 344

al-Bara' b. 'Azib 217

al-Bara' b. Ma'rur iioff, 268

Barakah see Umm Ayman

Barrah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 33, 40, 50, 63,

72,82,283
al-Baydawi ('Abd Allah b. 'Umar) 261
al-Bayhaqi (Ahmad b. al-Husayn) 327f
Becca 2f, 42

Bedouin 23f, 54, 119, 170, 181, 189, 199,
226, 249f, 263f, 274, 3 TO, 3 1 4, 3 1 8,

3^3
Bible 1 26

Bilal 79, 97, 131, 134, ISO, 1 77» 1 95> 109,
228, 281, 300,333

Bishr b. al-Bara' 268

Bostra 21, 29, 34, 47, 286

Bu'dth 108, 127

Budayl b, Warqa' 249, 295, 306

Bujayr b. Zuhayr 314

al-Bukharl (Muhammad b. Isma'il) 26,
43ff, 68, 89, 94, 102, io6f, 1 19, 1 24,
133, 146, 152, 157, 168, i85f, 2iif,
241, 243, 245, 251, 258, 261, 268,
272f, 276, 316, 322, 325, 327ff, 332,

334,337f,34<5»344
al-Buraq loif
Burayrah 244

Byzantine 7, 287, 317, 3i9, 3M

Caesar 250, 286f
Cain 24, 331
Canaan zi

Chosroes 218, 250, 26of

Christ see Jesus Christ

Christian (ity) i6f, 29, 34, 82, 99, 121, 259,

286, 315, 319, 322,324, 329, 335
Confederates 7, 3 2
Constantinople 324
Copt (ic) 41

Damdam al-Ghifari i38f
Damrah (clan of Kinanah) 201, 218, 294,
310

ad-Darimi ('Abd Allah b. 'Abd ar-Rahman)

214
David 314
Daws (tribe) 54, 280
Dead Sea 287
Deuteronomy 232
Dhu l-Qarnayn 78
Dhu Tuwd 298
Dihyah al-Kalbi 269, 286
Duldul 289, 305f
DUmat al-Jandal 210, 319
Du'thur b. al-Harith i7of

£gypf277,3oi,3i7
Elijah loi

Emigrants 125, i27f, 130, i35f, i38ff, 158,
162, i73f, 176, 180, 182, 189, 205,
207, 2i6ff, 237f, 242/, 275, 293, 297,
305f,3iof,3i3f,343

Enoch loi

Ephesus 78

Esau 2

Europe 1 6

Fadak 267, 274

al-Fadlb. al-'Abbas 155, 305, 324f, 34of,
344

Fakhitah see Umm Hani*

354 Muhammad

al-Farra' al-Baghawi (al-Husayn b. Mas'ud)
3Z9

Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet 37, 39,
117, 132, i63f, i68f, 172, 193, 206,
211, 272f, 281, 292, 299, 315, 324,

329,33^1339^.344
Fatimah b. 'Amr 13, 41
Fatimah b. Asad 28, 10 1
Fatimah b. al-Khattab 73, Sjf
Fazarah (tribe) 215, 225
Fihr b. Malik 347

315

Gabriel 44, 46, 49, 75, 77, loif, ii6f, 133,
146, 148, 158, i68, i7of, 200, 203,
229, 234, 26of, 269, 271, 315, 33 if

Gaza 8

Genesis if

GhadJr al-Khutnm 335
Ghalib b. 'Abd Allah 274
Ghassan (tribe) 286, 317
Ghatafan (tribe) 170, 201, 203 f, 207f,

21 5f, 22off, 228, 263 f, 266f, 274, 297,

310, 313,318

Ghaziyyah b. 'Amr 181
Ghifar (tribe) 5 3 f, 138, 237
Gog 78
Gospels 1 7
Greek 4 1, 279

Habbar b. al-Aswad i58f
Habib 313

Habibah b. Kharijah 340

Haddah 285

Hadl (tribe) 230, 233

Hafsah b. 'Umar 113, i64f, 172, 2o6f, 271,

276ff,339
Hagar iff, 10, 277
Hajun^i
Hakam 136

Hakim b. Hizam 37, 71, 89, 140, 144, 295,
3o8f '

Halah b. Khuwaylid 40, 272
Halah b. Wuhayb 17, 22
Halimah b. Abi Dhu'ayb 24f, 27, 39, 293,
307

Hamnah b. Jahsh 113, 132, 193, 243, 246
Hamzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 27f, 31,36,
5of, 59f, 64, 70, 86, 88f, 97, 113, i46f,
157, i73f, i8if, 189, 19iff, 28iff, 321
Hanifah (tribe) 333

Hanzalah b, Abi 'Amir 128, 175, i77f,.i8o,

iSzf, 321

Hanzalah b. Abi Sufyan 154, 189, 191
Hanzalah at-Tamimi 212
Harb b. Umayyah 40, 65
al-Harith (clan of Kinanah) 250
al-Harith b. Fihr (clan of Quraysh) 46
al-Harith b, 'Abd al-Muttalib 11, 21, 39,

al-Harith b. 'Abd al-'Uzzah 24f, 27, 307,
' 309

al-Harith b. Abi Durar 24 if
al-Harith b. 'Amir 142
al-Harith b. Hisham 114
al-Harith al-Muzani 183
al-Harith b. as-Simmah 185, 187, 191, 201
Harithah (clan of Aws) 177, 197, 217,
228

Harithah b. Nu'man 168, 270
Harithah b. Sharahil 37f
Harithah b. Suraqah 147, 152
al-Hasan b. 'All 172, 206, 211, 273, 292,
' 32.4

Hashim (clan of Quraysh) 3 iff, 38, 40, 50,
88ff, 98, 100, 116, 139, 142f, 149,
153, 189,300,309

Hashim b. 'Abdi Manaf 7f, 16, 28, 34, 60,
292, 294

Hassan b. Thabit 244, 246, 277, 313

Hatib b. 'Amr 72, 106, 293

Hatim at- Ta'1 37, 315

Hawazin (tribe) i5f, 23, 31, 201, 274, 292,

294 f, 304ff, 3o8ff, 320
Haivra' 138
Hebron i

Helpers 125, i27f, 130, 138f, 141, 147,
i49ff, 157, i6iff, 166, i73f, i77f,
180, 182, i84f, 195, 197, 205, 207,
212, 2i6f, 222, 237f, 24if, 245, 269,
281, 288, 293, 297, 305f, 3ioff, 3 i4f,
343^

Heraclius 260, 317

Hijazis, 17, 19, ii, 39, 73, ^3^, 2.6$,

269,275,294
Himyarite 3 22

Hind b, Abi Umayyah see Umm Salamah
Hind b. 'Amr 193

Hind b. 'Uthah 65, 154, 173, 180, 182, ,

189, 298, 301
Hira* 43, 68, 75, 100
Hisham b. 'Amr 89ff
Hisham b. al-'As i i4ff, 285
Hisham b. al-Walid 156, 309
Hizam b. Khuwaylid 37, 71
Hants 317

Hubab b. al-Mundhir 143, 176, 182
Hubal 5, II, I3ff, 183, 186, 190, 301
Hubayrah b. Abi Wahb 3 3, 93, loi, 299
Hudaybiyah 24 8f, 251, 257, 259, 28of,

291,295,314,326
Hudhayfah b. al-Yaman 227f
Hudhayl (tribe) 199, 222, 299
Hulayl b. Hubshiyah 6
al-Hulays b. 'Alqamah 189, 250
Hunafa' 16

kunayn 304ff, 309, 317, 32.7
al-Husayn b. 'All 206, 211, 273, 324
Husayn b. Sallam see 'Abd Allah b. Sallam
Huwaytib b. 'Abd al-'Uzzah 25 2f, 281

Huyay b. Akhtab 203f, zis, 2zif, 126,
23Z, 268, 270

Ibn al-Akwa' 264, 269

Ibn ad-Da hda hah see Thabit b.
ad-Dahdahah

Ibn ad-Dughunnah 97, 107

Ibn Hanbal (Ahmad b. Muhammad) 70,
102, 120, 191, 329

Ibn al-Hayyaban 56, 221, 230

IbnHisham ('Abd al-Malik) 31,49, 132,
188, 242,314

Ibn Ishaq (Muhammad), 7, 10, 18, 21, 25,
32, 35, 42ff, 52, 55f, 58, 62, 64, 73f,
80, 84, 87, 89f, 95, loiff, 105, 108,
i26ff, 130, 134, 141, i46f, i5of, is8,
i78f, 182, 184, i89ff, 209f, 2i8f, 225,
228ff, 239, 24 if, 248, 253, 268f, 292f,
310,312, 3i4,3i6,3i8,32off,334,
336,338, 340

Ibn Kathir (Isma'il b. 'Umar) 335

Ibn Majah (Muhammad) 345

Ibn Qami'ah i85f, 190

Ibn Sa'd (Muhammad) 26, 31, 33ff, 38ff,
47f, 51, 54, 72-, 8i, lii, 130, i33f,
158, i63ff, 168, 184, 207, 218, 226,
269, 27iff, 276, 282, 285, 288, 301,
32S,337ff,343

Ibn Umm Maktum see *Abd Allah b, Umm
Maktum

Ibrahim, son of the Prophet 315, 324f, 344
*Ikrimah b. Abijahl 148, 156, 180, 183,

220, 222f, 226f, 249, 251, 283f, 299,

3oiff
*Imran 212, 278, 329
Indian 314
'ham 56, 105

Iraq 62, 73, 121, 170, 17^, 31?
Isaac if, II, 127
Isaf 1 1
Isfahan 121
Isfandiyar 89

Ishmael iff, lof, 15, 31, 42, 127

Israel 16, 232

lyas b. Mu'adh 57, 109

Jabbar b. Salma 202

Jabir b. 'Abd Allah 175, 193, 195, 2o8f,

21 8f, 228, 299
Jacob 34, 245
Jadd b. Qays 252
Ja'far b. Abl Sufyan 293
Ja'far b. Abi Talib 33, 39, 5of, 82ff, 9if,

1 01, 259, 270, 282, 284f, 287ff, 324,

336

Jahsh b. Ri'ab 40, 113, 199, 252
Jamilah b. 'Abd Allah 128, 175, 177, 183
Jayy 121
Jeddah 41

Index 355

Jericho 205

Jerusalem 54, loi, io3f, iiof, 125, 137,
317,319

Jesus Christ 17, 26, 34, 6S, 75, 83f, 10 1,
300,313,324

Jews 4, 7, 16, 30, 34, 56f, 77f» 105, 1 11,
i2if, i25ff, i35f, 138, 152, i6off,
i7if, 196, 203f, 207, 212, 214, 22lf,
225 f, 23 off, 238, 261, 263 ff, 269f,
^74, 319, 3^1, 319

JVranah 3o6ff, 311,313

Jonah 99, 212

Joseph 17, 102, 245, 301, 339

Ju*ayl b. Suraqah 218, 294, 3iof

Jubayrb. al-Mut'im 106, i56f, 173, 285

Judham (tribe) 317

Juhaym b. as- Salt 142

Juhaynah (tribe) 138, 140, 170, 237, 289,

314
Juhfah 142

Jumah (clan of Quraysh) 73, 76, 79, 96ff,

105,133,14^,144,157
;«r/"339f
Jurhum 4

Jurhum (tribe) 4f, 11, 53
Jusham (tribe) 304
Juwayriyah b. al-Harith 24 if

Ka'b (clan of Khuza'ah) 247, 249f, 291,
295

Ka'b b. Asad 22if, 229f
Ka'b b. al-Ashraf 160, 171
Ka*b b. Lu'ayy 100, 347
Ka*bb. Malik no, 187, 294f, 313, 318,
320

Ka'bb. Sharahn38

Ka'b b. Zuhayr 3i3f

Kalb (tribe) 37f, 122, 132, 210, 269

Karkarah 269

Kawthar 256

Khabbab b. al-Aratt 86

Khadijah b. al-Khuwaylid 34ff, 44ff, 49,
51, 57, 7of, 88, 90, 96f, 105, 140, 144,
156, 163, 272, 286, 295, 308, 315

Khalid b. Hizam 71

Khalid b. Sa'id 47, 72, 259

Khalid b. al-Walid 156, 180, 183, 190, 220,

222ff, 227, 248, 258, 282f, 288f,

297ff, 30if, 305, 309, 319, 3^7* 336
Khallad b. 'Amr 193
Kharijah b. Zuhayr 340
Khath'am (tribe) 19
al- Khattab b. Nufayl 73, 275, 279
Khawlah b. al-Haklm 106, 166, 168
Khaybari^y^iy loi, 205, 215, 217, 221,

233,263ff, 274ff, 183
Khaythamah Abu Sa'd 174, 191
Khazraj (tribe) 8, 27, 56f, 105, io8ff, 121,

123, i26ff, 130, 135, 143, 147, 161,

169, 173ff, i78ff, 190, 195, 199f, 3LOI,

35^ Muhammad

Khazraj (tribe) - contd.

222, 23 if, 237ff, 244, 300, 304, 3i8f>

340, 343f
Khirash b. Umayyah 250, 254, 281
Khubayb b. 'AdI 200, 222
Khunays b. Hudhafah 113, 164
Khuwaylid b. Asad 34» 3^
Khuza'ah (tribe) 4ff, 16, 53, 196, 216, 237,

247, 249, z53f,29i, 308
Khuzaymah b. al-Harith 201
Kinanah (ttibe) 19, 31, 173, 189, 201, 221
Kinanah b. Abi 1-Huqayq 263, 267ff
Kinanah b. ar-Rabi* 1 58f
Kindah (tribe) 136
Kisrah see Chosroes
Kulthum b. Hidm 121

Labid b. al-A'sam 26 iff

Labid b. Rabi'ah 93^* 3135 3^3

al-Lat 15, 79f, 2,2.6, 294, 304, 3i4f, 3.21

Lakhm (tribe) 73, 317

Layth (tribe) 182

Libyan (tribe) 199

Lot 277

Lu*ayy b. Ghalib 347

Madd'in 218, 26of

Magog 78

Mahdi330

Mahya'ah 134

Mahmild b. Maslamah 254

Majannah 134

Makhziun (dan of Quraysh) 7, i2f, 33, 41,
62ff, 7if> 80, 82, 90, 92f, 96, ii3f,
139, 142, 146, 182, 299, 309
Makhzum b. Yaqazah 6f, 347
Malik b. an- Najjar (subdan of Khazraj)
124

Malik b. 'Awf 305ff, 310, 320

Malik b. Sinan 174, i86f, i95f

Manati5,3i5 .

Mariyah 277, 286, 315, 315

Marr az-Zahrdn 294

Marwah 3, 59, 281, 333

Mary the Blessed Virgin 17, 26, 83f, 278,

300, 329f
Matta 99

Ma'unah 201, 215, 322

Maymiinah b. al-Harith 51, 28iff, 293,

2.99,314,338
Maysarah 34f
Mediterranean z, 16
Messiah 16
Mikrazb. Hafs 252f
M/W-2I05, III, 313, 333^
Miqdad b. 'Amr 140
Mirkhond (Muhammad) 322
Mistah b. Uthathah 243f, 246
Moabite 5,11

Moses 75, loi, io3» 212, 226, 230, 271,

277,318
Mosul 73, 12,1

Mu'adh b, al-Harith 124, i48f
Mu'adh b. Jabal 304, 3 19
Mu*attab b. Abi Lahab 301
Mu'awiyah b. Abi Sufyan 308
Mu*awwidhb. al-Harith 147, 149, 152
Mubashshir b. 'Abd al-Mudhir 175
Mughammis 19

al-Mughlrah (subdan of Quraysh) 113
al-Mughirah b. 'Abd Allah izf, 41, 58
al-Mughlrah b. Shu'bah 250, 313, 321
Muhajirah see Emigrants
Muhammad b. Abi Bakr 332
Muhammad b. Ja'far 270
Muhammad b. Maslamah 171, 203, 300
Muharib (tribe) 170
Mukhayriq 192
al-Multazam 301
al-Mundhir b. 'Amr 201
Muqawqis 260, 277, 289
Murrah (tribe) 215, 225, 274
Mus'ab b, 'Umayr 82, io8ff, 129, 132,

'138,151, 180,189, 193,146
Musaylimah b. Habib 335f
Muslim b. Hajjaj 94f, 102, 166, 191, 210,

212, 329ff
al-Mustaliq (subtribe of Khuza*ah) 237,

242, 249
MM'toA>287ff,3i3, 336
al-Mut*im b. *A<K 9of, 100, 106, n6, i56f
al-Muttalib (dan of Quraysh) 32, 40, 88,

9of, 140, 142, 243, 309
al-Muttalib b. 'Abdi Manaf 8f, 90, 147
Muzdham 12S

Muzaynah (tribe) 181, 183, 193, 313, 3i8
Muzdalifah 334

Nadir (tribe) i6of, 171, 203ff, 215, 22if,

229,231, 233,263,267
Nadr b. al-Harith 89, 142, ijif
Na'ilah 11
an-Na'Tm 266

Najd 17, 19, 31, 40, i7off, 177, 199, 108,

215, 220, 226, 228, Z9S, 335
Najiyah b. Jundub 248
an-Najjar (dan of Khazraj) 8, 123, 131,

147, 169, 231
Najran 16, 324

Nakhlah 15,99, 13 6, 139, 301^,30^
an-Nasa'I (Ahmad b. Shu'ayb) 290
NasUfm 100
Nasr (tribe) 304

Nawfal (dan of Quraysh) 16, 32, 90, 100,

142, 200
Nawfal b. 'Abd Allah 136, 223
Nawfal b. *Abdi Manaf 8f, 16, 90
Nawfal b. Asad 16

Nawfal b. al-Harith 143, 151, 153, 155

Index 357

Nawfal b. Khuwaylid 71, 97, 142
Negus 8iff, 250, 259f, 284, 316
Nestor 34
Nineveh 99
Noah75f, 212, 277
Nu'aym b. 'Abd Allah 8sf
Nu'aym b. Mas'ud 207, 225f, 295
Nubian Desert 1 20
Nufayl b. 'Abd Allah 73
Nufayi b. Habib 19H
Nufaysah35

Nusaybah b. Ka'b 181, 186, 247, 255, 265

Palestine 7f, 21
Pentecost 17

Persia{n) 89, 96, 121, 142, 216, 222, 260,

^79,317
Persian Gulfijo
Peter 313
Pharaoh 278
Pleiades 3 1
Potiphar 339
Psalm 2

Qamiis 267
Qaradah 172
al-Qarah (tribe) 222
al-Qasim, son o/^f^c Prophet 39
al-Qaswa' no, i23f, 147, 248, 280, 297f,
300

Qaylah 8, 109, i2if, 237, 343
Qayn (tribe) 37

Qaynuqa' (tribe) 127, 130, i6off, 222, 231
Qays b. Sa'd 298

al-Qithamb. al-'Abbas 155,305,344
Qubd'ji^, i2off, IZ5, 268
Quda'ah (tribe) 289
Qu'dayd^ i5> 3^5
Qudayd 294

Quraybah b. Abi Quhafah 132, 298f, 301
Qurayzah (tribe) 122, 130, i6of, 203 f, 209,

2l6f, 220ff, 225ff, 268

Qusayy b. Kilab 6f, 13, 17, 23, 32, 60, 62,
108

Qutaylah b. Nawfal I7f, 34

ar-Rabr b. Umayyah 333

Rafi' b. Khadij 177

Rajti99

RanUna 123

Rawhd' 169, 196

Rayhanah b. Zayd 233

Red'Sea 2, 15, 53, 122, 13 5f, 170, 172,

237,258,315
Rifa^ah b. Samaw'al 231, 233
Roman Empire 7, 3 1
Rubayyi' b. an-Nadr 152

Rufaydah al-Aslamiyyah 231

Ruqayyah, daughter of the Prophet 37, 39f,

70, 73, 82, 92, 98, 113, 138, 152,

i63ff, 206, 301
Rustum 89

Sa*d b. Abi Waqqas 50, 52, 138, 141, 148,

178, 181, i84f, 190,310,329
Sa*d b. Bakr (tribe) 23 ff, 39, 304, 3o6f
Sa'd b. Khaythamah 174
Sa'd b. Mu'adh io9f, 112, 139, 141, 143,

149, 171, 173, I75f, 186, 195, 222ff,

23 if, 234

Sa'd b. 'Ubadah i28f, 135, 173*, 176, i95f,

222, 224, 238, 244, 247, 281, 288,

297f,3ii,343
Safa 3, 59, 63, 86, 281, 301, 333
Safiyyah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 27, 36, 38,

51, 82, 132, 181, i92f, 211, 213, 265
Safiyyah b. Huyay 268ff, 277
Safwan b. al-Mu'attal 241, 243 f
Safwan b. Umayyah i57f, i72f, 187, 200,

208, 215, 235, 249, 283f, 299, 302,

304,309,333
Sahl b. 'Amr 124
Sahlah b. Suhayl 72
Sahm (clan of Quraysh) 32, ii3f, 284
Sa'ib b. 'Uthman 166, 178
Sa'Td b. al-'As 47
Sa'id b. Zayd 73, 85f, 138, 329
Sa'idah (clan of Khazraj)
St. John (Gospel) 17
Sajah 336
as-Sakb 176, 190
Sakran b. 'Amr 72, 106
Sal' 2i6f, 223

Salamah b. Abi Salamah 113, 282f
Salamah b. Hisham 156
Salim (clan of Khazraj) 123
Salimah (clan of Khazraj) iii, 147, 195,
197

Salit b. 'Amr 72

Sallam b. Mishkam 268

Salma (servant) 38, 213, 315

Salma b. 'Amr 8, 155

Salma b. Qays 23 1, 23 3

Salma b. Umays 51, 281

Salman al-FarisT 12 if, i29f, 209f, 212,

2i6ff, 329
Samuel (Book of) 149
Samurah b. Jundub 177
San'd' i9ti, z6o
Sarah if
Sarar 307
San/ 282

Satan 26, 112, 163, 276, 326
Saul 149

Sawad b, Ghaziyyah 146

I. This Qudayd, due west of Medina on the Red Sea, is not marked on the map.

358 Muhammad

Sawdah b. Zam'ah 72,, 106, 117, 132, 151,

155, 165, 27off,z86, 337
Scented Ones 7, 32
Shamah 134

Shammas b. 'Uthman 82, 185, 187, 189,
i95f

Shaybah b. Hashim see 'Abd al-Muttalib
Shaybah b. Rabi'ah 65, 96, 99, 142* *147,

154, 160
Shaykhayn

Shayma' b. al-Harith 307
Sheba (Queen of) 19
Shiloh 34
Shu'aybah 302
Shuqran344
Sinai 226

Sinan b. Abi Sinan al-Asadi 252

Sirdr 209

Sirin 277, 325

Siroes (King of Persia) 260

Solomon 134

Suhayl b. 'Amr al-'Amiri 72, lOOj 106,
ii3f, 142, 144, 151, 155,207,225,
i52ff, 258, 281, 297, ^99, 30i» 304>
309

Suhayl b. 'Amr an-Najjari 124

as-Suhayli ('Abd ar-Rahman b. *Abd Allah)

Suiafah b, Sa'd 181

Sulaym (tribe) 170, 20if, 215, 241, 294,

297,305f
Sumayyah b. Khubbat 79
Sunh 121, 340, 342

Syria 5, 7f, 16, 21, 29, 31, 34f, 37f, 47, 56f,
62, 73, 103, no, izof, i35f, 138, 162,

170, 204f, 210, 218, 230, 235, 260,

286f, 289ff, 317, 319, 321, 336f, 339,

343
Syriac 42

at-Tabari (Muhammad b. Jarir) 51, 65,

102, 156
Tabuk '^ijiiy 329
Tafil 134

at- Taifis, 98f, 136, ^57* ^94^, 304ff,

309f, 3i3,3i5,32of, 333
Talhahb. 'Abd Allah i8of
Talhah b. 'Ubayd Allah 47, 97, 120, 132,

'138, i85f, 188, i95> M6, 3^9, 343
Talib b, Abi Talib 33, 39, 70, 140
Tamim (tribe) 212, 310, 336
Tan'im 200

Taym (clan of Quraysh) 7, 32, 47, 59, 97

Taym b, Murrah 6f

Tayy (tribe) 3 7, 1 3 2, 1 60, 3 1 5f

Thabit b. Arqam 288

Thabit b. ad-Dahdahah 169, 191

Thabit b. Qays 23 2f

Tha'labah (tribe) 170

ThaMabah b. Sa'yah 233

Thaqif (tribe) 15, 64, 98ff, 173, 249. 2-57,
292, 295, 304, 3o6f, 310, 313, 32off
Thawban 34of
Thawr 118
Tihdtnah 302

at-Tirmidhi (Muhammad b. 'Isa) 3, 45,

102, 269, 328f
at-Tirmidhi (al-HakIm) 327
Torah 226, 230, 232
Tu'aymah b. 'Adi 142, 157
at-Tufayl b. 'Amr 54f
Tulayb b. Umayr 70, 82, 1 1 3
Tulayhah b. KhuwayUd 336

'Ubadah b. as-Samit i6if

'Ubayd Allah b*. al-'Abbas 1 5 5

'Ubayd Allah b. Jahsh 50, 82, 92, 259

'Ubaydah b. al-Harith i47f, 201

Ubayy b. Khalaf 74, 93, 157, i87f, 190

Vhud 173, i75> i77ff> 190, 19^, i95ff,
199, 2o6f, 109, 2i5ff, 220, 231, 287,
327,338,342

Ukaydir b. 'Abd al-Malik 3 19

'Ukdz 37, 196

Ukkashah b. Mihsan 148

Umamah b. Abi 1-' As. 1 5 8f, 21 1 , 272f

'Umar b. al-Khattab 73/, 79, 85ff, 93, 96,
ii3f, 138, 140, 147, 149, i63ff, 175,
I77f, 181, 184, 190, 197, 203, 207,
2i7f, 222, 231, 237ff, 247, 251, 254f,
257f, 264f, 267, 274ff, 278f, 293, 306,
322,329ff, 339, 342f

'Umarah b. Hamzah 59, 28 iff

Umaymah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib 40, 50, 113,
i3i» 193

'Umayr b, Abi Waqqas 50, 138, 148
'Umayr b. al-Humam i47f
'Umayr b. Wahb 144, i57f, 302
Umayyad(s) (subclan of Quraysh) 40, 47,

73, 82, 154, 296
Umayyah b. 'Abdi Shams 12, 40
Umayyah b. Khalaf 74, 76, 79, 93, 96f,

106, 135, 140, 142, 144, 150, 157,

187

Umm Ayman Barakah 27, 37,40, 51, 117,
132, 164, 168, 192, 211, 244, 265,
276, 286,288, 340, 34i» 345

Umm al-Fadl b. al-Harith 39, 51, no, 153,
155, 28if, 293^,324

Umm Hablbah b. Abi Sufyan 73, 82, 259f,
270, 286, 291

Umm Hakim al-Bayda* b. 'Abd al-Muttalib
47

Umm Hakim b. al-Harith 301

Umm Hani' b. Abi Talib 33, loi, 103, 299,

333

Umm Jamil b. Harb 70, 89

Umm Kulthum, daughter of the Prophet 37,

39f, 70, 117, 132, 165, 168, 320
Umm Kulthum b. Suhayl 72, 113

Index

Umm Kulthum b. 'Uqbah 25 8f
Umm Man!' b, 'Amr 247
Umm Ruman b. 'Amir 71, i}zi, 243, 245,
259

Umm Salamah b. Abi Umayyah 72, 82, 92,
113, 164, 195, 2o6f, 220, 234, 24of,
247, 254, 265, 27off, 276, 278, 283,

286, 293, 299,307

Umm Sulaym b. Milhan 168, 181, 265
Unays (keeper of the elephant) 2of
Unays b. Junadah 54
'Uqbah b. Abi Mu'ayt 48, 98, 140, 15 if,

157,^58
'Urwah b. Mas'ud 249f, 313, 321
Usamah b. Zayd 51, 132, 152, 177, 211,

217, 244, 272f, 274f, 288, 300, 306,

32.5, 333, 336»339f> 34^.344
Usayd b. Hudayr i09f, 112, 173, 176,

222ff, 240, 244, 297, 343

Usayrim b, Thabit 192

'Us fan 248

'Vshayrah 136

'Utaybah b. Abi Lahab 40

'Utbah (aJly of al-'Abbas)

'Utbah b. Abi Lahab 40, 301

'Utbah b. Rabi'ah 6of, 65, 72, 82, 92, 96,

99, 139, M^, 144, 147, 150, 1545 160,

201, 301
'Uthman b. 'Abd Allah i36f
'Uthman b. 'Affan 47, 67, 70, 73, 82, 92,

98, 113, 138, 152, i64f, 211, 224f,

25if, 254, 258, 298, 320, 329, 332
'Uthman b. Maz'un 73f, 93f, 106, i^sf,

168

'Uthman b. Talhah 113, 283ff, 300, 333

Uyaynah b. Hisn 3iof

al-'Uzzah 15, 79f, 183, 186, 30if, 304, 314

Wddi l-Qura 122, 162, 269

Wahb b. 'Abdi Manaf az-Zuhri 17

Wahb al-Muzam i83f

Wahshi 173, 189, 321

al-Walid b. al-Mughirah 4if, 53, 58, 64,

66, 91, 93f, 98, 282
al-Walid b. 'Utbah 139, 147, 154
al-Waiid b. al-Walid 156, 258, 283, 309
al-Waqidi (Muhammad b. 'Umar) 157,
168, 171, i73ff, i83ff, i89ff, i93f,
T97, 200, 202, 208, 2i7ff, 225f, 228,
230, 234, 241, 248ff, 258, 264, 269,
275, 284f, 287, 289, 29 if, 294, 300,
302, 309,311,313, 318, 333f

Waraqah b. Nawfal i6ff, 29, 34f, 44, 57,
73,79

Wuhayb b. 'Abdi Manaf az-Zuhri i7f

Yajajis9
Yalyal 143
Yamdmah 62, 335
Yanbu' 136
Yasir b. 'Amir 79

Yathrib jity 13, 15, 21, 27, 55ff, loi, 105,
io8ff, ii3f, ii6ff, 120, i27f, 134,
i4of, 154, 157, 160, 167, 170, 201,
207, 210, 226, 232, 237, 260, 263,
265ff, 290, 295, 317, 343

Yazid b. Abi Sufyan 308

Y^m^«(ite) 5, 7, 16, i9f, 31, 56, 118, i35f,
164, 218, 260, 274, 284,302,314,
32i, 335f

ZabTd 32

Zablr b. Bata 23 2f

Zam'ah b. al-Aswad 9 1

Zam'ah b. Qays 106

Zamzam 2ff, loff, 27, 153, 300

Zaydb. 'Amr 73, 138, 329

Zayd b, Arqam 238

Zayd b. ad-Dathinnah 200

Zayd b. Harithah 37ff, 46, 96, 113, 128,

132,' i5if, I59f, 172, i77f, 200, 21 iff,

223, 235, 237, 258, 272, 274, 282,

286ff, 336
Zaynab, daughter of the Prophet 37, 39^)

71, 151, 156, i58f, 211, 235f, 272,

286

Zaynab b. 'All 3 24

Zaynab b.Jahsh40, 113, 132, 21 2f, 220,

243f, 270, 273, 276, 337
Zaynab b. Khuzaymah, 201, 206
Zaynab b. Maz'un 73f, 113, 276
Zoroastrian 121
az-Zubayr z66

az-Zubayr b. *Abd al-Muttalib 13, 3 if, 39
az-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam 38, 5of, 82, 113,
132, 138, 141, 178, i8if, 185, 192,
222, 23 2f, 258, 266f, 293, 297f, 329,
343

Zuhayr b. Abi Salma 313

Zuhayr b. AbT Umayyah 71, 9of, 309

Zuhrah (clan of Quraysh) 7, 17, 3 2, 48, 50,

52, 100, 140, 142, 150
Zuhrah b. Kilab 6f, 1 7

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